Our toddler left us. Or, at least until Friday. Over the last 2 3/4 years, we’ve occasionally been blessed with the chance to go away for a few days sans bébé. We return well-rested and smiling, sandy grit in the bottom of our suitcases, traces of whatever had vexed us before we left deliciously eviscerated from memory, and almost giddy with excitement to start scraping spaghetti from the underside of the high chair again. But this is the first time — with barely a “Sayonara!” as he ran out the door or a single “Wish you were here!” postcard from the road — that Jacob has headed out for lazier climes without us. He’s spending a week at the mountain retreat of Camp Grandparents, where he’s forced to endure petting zoos, baby pools, wide expanses of fresh air, nonstop adoration, and, no doubt, all of the ice cream he can talk them into.

Meanwhile, Alex and I have been left behind to attend to our assigned daily grinds and realize how totally dull this place is in the morning without a toddler buzzing from room to room at the crack of dawn, pulling on our earlobes to announce, “I’m awake! Wake UP!” and serenading us with ABCs on his guitar. We’ve also learned that we share differing interpretations of a week’s Vacation From Parenting. For example, I was thinking that, freed from the daily whirlwind of tight schedules, tantrums, irregular sleep patterns and spontaneous song-and-dance-and-marching! parties that life with a toddler demands, we could finally get caught up on things that have been neglected for the last 2 3/4 years. My to-do list for this week involves such enticing tasks as “Get the apartment painted!” “Rearrange furniture and pictures!” “Clean out closets!” “Meet at gym every day after work,” and “Back-up and replace laptops.” I was also thinking we could read and discuss “War and Peace” every night before we hit the pillow, but didn’t want to be overly ambitious. Alex’s comparatively modest list includes such audacious suggestions as “Get lots of sleep, get drinks with friends, watch TV with the sound on and the Closed Captioning off, and very little else.” Yeah, so who would you rather party with? It’s okay, I won’t take it personally.

Whichever version of our week off will prevail remains to be seen, but at least for the weekend, as it should, leisure won. Shortly after Jacob hit the road on Saturday (armed with eight books, Ernie, Bert, two monkeys, a soccer ball and glockenspiel, just the basics) I set out two sticks of butter, picked through all of the market berries I’d bought and let languish throughout the week and baked what has to be the most perfect summer embodiment a buttermilk bundt — bronzed with a faint crunch at the edges, tender to the point of pudding-ness in the center, and welcome wherever you take it. It’s dotted with slumped berries, marbled with pink and purple streaks and topped with a thick, tart lemon glaze. And if that doesn’t scream summer enough to you, consider taking it to a housewarming party on a gorgeous evening with the skyline of Manhattan in the distance, where you don’t have to nervously glance at your watch as the babysitter’s tab adds up, nobody cares when you get up the next morning, and as you have long, uninterrupted conversations with friends about life itself, start to imagine that maybe if the closets have gone neglected this long, another week without cannot hurt them.

The recipe, as originally published, uses 3 cups rhubarb for the berries and 1/2 teaspoon lemon oil for the vanilla. As you can imagine, you could likely use 3 cups of many chopped fruits or berries for different, delicious bundts throughout the year, such as cranberries in the fall or even diced peaches and other stone fruits in the month or two to come. Have fun with it.

Although I made these with the 3 cups of berries listed below (using one cup each of blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries, though currants or huckleberries or whatever you can get would also be delicious) I think this cake has the potential to be even more of a “berry bomb” with a fourth cup of berries. The cake as written below is full of berries, but it’s a balanced amount — they don’t overwhelm the cake, and I do really like a cake that’s almost overwhelmed with fruit.

Updated with weights, at last, 7/10/12. Plus, a note about weights: Making it even more confusing for home cooks, not every recipe writer agrees on the weight of a cup of flour or sugar. However, when there’s a discrepancy between what I would get and what a recipe writer has included in their ingredients, I default to their measurements, as I do below. The weights are on the heavy side by my measurements (my spoon-and-sweep cups clock in at 125 grams), but will work as listed in this recipe.

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Generously grease a 10-cup Bundt pan, either with butter or a nonstick spray.* Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk or sift 2 1/2 cups flour (leaving 2 tablespoons back), baking powder and salt together and set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer or large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, sugar and lemon zest until light and impossibly fluffy, about 3 to 5 minutes. Then, with the mixer on a low speed, add your eggs one at a time, scraping down the bowl between each addition. Beat in vanilla, briefly. Add 1/3 flour mixture to batter, beating until just combined, followed by half the buttermilk, another 1/3 of the flour mixture, the remaining buttermilk and remaining flour mixture. Scrape down from time to time and don’t mix any more than you need to. In the bowl where you’d mixed your dry ingredients, toss the berries with the remaining 2 tablespoons of flour. With a silicon spatula, gently fold the berries into the cake batter. The batter will be very thick and this will seem impossible without squishing the berries a little, but just do your best and remember that squished berries do indeed make for a pretty batter.

Spread cake batter — you might find it easier to plop it in the pan in large spoonfuls, because it’s so thick — in the prepared baking pan and spread the top smooth. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, rotating the cake 180 degrees after 30 (to make sure it browns evenly). The cake is done as soon as a tester comes out clean of batter. At 10 minutes before my baking time was up, a tester was totally wet with batter and I was certain it would never be done in the estimated time. 7 minutes later, the same tester was clean as a whistle, so fret not.

Set cake pan on a wire rack to cool for 30 minutes, before inverting the cake onto a serving platter to cool the rest of the way. Cool completely. Once cool, whisk together the powdered sugar, lemon juice and butter until smooth and very, very thick. (If you’d like it thinner, add more juice, but I like the thick drippiness of it, seen above.) Spread carefully over top of cake, letting it trickle down the sides when and where it wishes. Serve at once or keep it covered at room temperature for 3 to 4 days.

* Updated note, due to comments about cake sticking: If you have a nonstick Bundt, just a coat of butter or nonstick spray should do. However, if you have a regular Bundt, not nonstick coated, you’re really going to want to make sure every nook and cranny is well-coated with butter or even shortening (the solidity of both helps them stick to the cake walls), and then dust the inside with flour. Setting your cake pan in the fridge or freezer (to set the coating even further) while you make the cake batter will provide even more insurance. I hope this improves the release rate of the cake!

I just moved out on my own and want to get baking. However, that means I’m without mixer/bundt pan/various other accessories. Do you think this can be made 1) by hand, no mixer and 2) in a regular pan instead of bundt?

I have a horrible time getting bundt cakes to release… your cake cools for 30 minutes and then is inverted, I assume you take the pan off when you invert. Does it really come out without leaving half the cake in the pan? I have tried buttering the pan, buttering and flouring the pan, spraying the pan with cooking spray and flouring it. Cook’s illustrated even suggested something about putting the pan in hot water (or was it wrapping it in hot towels?)…nothing works for me and my pan is a good quality non stick pan too! I’ve about given up on bundt cakes. sigh.

Jacqueline — I didn’t have trouble with this cake sticking. I use a NordicWare bundt and they are also nonstick coated.

Diane — I love baking with currants and suggest them as an alternative in the head notes. The only thing tricky about them is removing the stems. They’re so tiny and fragile and the stems like to stay stuck. But, it just takes a little more prep time and is totally worth it.

Hi Deb, I don’t usually comment but I wanted to let you know that you have become a “go-to” for me! I bake part-time at a restaurant and whenever I need fresh ideas for Sunday brunch desserts, I just open your blog and take a look around. You do not disappoint and this cake is no exception! It will definitely be gracing the Sunday brunch buffet table! Thank you so much!

Beautiful. I’m going to need to go find a bundt pan to buy quick-like. Question: I found currants at the greenmarket and brought them home because I’d never cooked with them before, and they just looked so shiny and tempting. Do you think I could use them in this cake?

This looks delicious, can’t wait to break out my Bundt pan? Quick question– is your glaze so perfectly snow white because of the high powdered sugar to liquid ratio? My glaze always dries this unappealing translucent color once my cake’s been sitting for an hour or so (like when I make it at home and take it to a party). Needless to say, I was super excited when I saw how beautiful this glaze looks! Does it stay this white?

Hi Kristina — I do think it’s the high proportion and also the butter keeping it thick. It stays totally white. I was actually thinking I wanted to frost the top messily but it ended up sliding down the sides instead. I didn’t argue.

I’m not sure what makes me more envious, the time sans bebe or the cake. We have no said Grandparents or relatives, so we get them 24/7. Did manage to whip up your chocolate chip sour cream coffee cake, tho. It just came out of the oven. Not too bad considering being trapped in the house with both of them and the monsoon we’re having on Long Island today! Thanks, looking forward to taking this bunt to a potluck pool party for the 4th. Enjoy your time, and enjoy the “hello” when he returns!

i love your commentary on life with a toddler, ours is so much the same even including watching TV with closed captioning…I almost can’t watch TV without it now, even though it makes me feel 80 years old! I’m bookmarking this cake to make sometime in the near future, I love berries :)

BTW – while we first used the TV in the same way that you do (too small a living space, too sleepless a toddler) I accidentally left the closed captioning on when my son was four or so, and when I went to turn it off, he said “No, Mommy – I want to see what the words look like.” He learned to read, I swear, from the closed captioning (He’s now 11 and just read Hamlet. Kid you not.)

As much as I enjoy your amazing recipes and photographs, it is your writing that draws me in EVERY SINGLE TIME. I think I’d be hooked even if there were no recipes. You’re magnificent, Deb! The cake looks great, btw :)

Your cake looks beautiful- and delicious!
My dad always had 2 weeks of shutdown (vacation) during the summer. The 1st week, we did day trips as a family- the 2nd week, mom and dad would go camping and my grandparents would come and stay with my brother and I. We loved it! Grandma always made our favorite dinners and of course there was lots of ice cream!!

Could I do this with sliced strawberries instead of mixed berries, Deb? I have two pints of not bad strawberries I’m unsure what to do with. It’s been so cold and rainy here in Vancouver these past few weeks, there weren’t any blueberries at the farmer’s market this weekend–and we’re already past raspberry season. Le sigh.

NOTHING SCREAMS SUMMER BUT A BERRY CAKE! I baked a blueberry buckle on Sunday. Wow what a cake!
I read you post about the toddler going away for a week and giggled out loud. Boy do I remember those days. Sadly we didn’t have the closed caption option so you guys should feel lucky! Enjoy your freedom – but it already sounds like you are.

Just another great, easy cake for those leisure summer evenings. I just made your red wine choco cake and might give this a try tonight, back to back. Will winter strawberries and blueberries do? It´s the only berries I could find at this time. Or maybe I´ll try it with mangoes and blueberries and see how that goes. Toddlers leave you so you can see how dull life is without them. Then they get the perfect, do-anything-you-want at their grandparents week, only to be followed by another similar one at their parents, who are dying to see him come back! Either way, you all win.

Awww, I bet you and your husband are missing the little rug rat but I’m sure it can be enjoyable to have some quiet uninterrupted time on your own. :) I am astounded by how perfectly all of your baked goods turn out! Every person in my family would LOVE this bundt cake and it’d be gone in seconds!

Oooooohhh! I’d want to make this my birthday cake, but that would mean waiting almost TWO MONTHS before making this. Unacceptable. I’ll just have to bring it to my boyfriend’s parents’ the next time we visit, like the elegant and gracious houseguest I am.

Hi Deb, this looks fantastic!! Any chance we can get some metric weights on this? You (and others) have totally converted me to baking with a scale. We loved the cold peanut noodle salad for dinner last night, and I’ve made your summer strawberry cake from last summer about three times already *this* summer… it is loved by ALL. Thanks!

Cara — I haven’t made this particular bundt as loaf but just about every other bundt can be made as two loaves. The loaves will bake in anywhere from 45 to 55 minutes, but it cannot hurt to check them earlier as I haven’t made this cake as loaves before. It also might not hurt to line the bottom of your loaf pans — if they’re not nonstick — with parchment paper. Just in case.

Faye — Frozen berries should be just fine for this cake.

Lynne — I don’t see why not.

Ada — It crusts a little, which sounds gross but just means it will be firm to the touch at the edges, but just the edges. The insides stay soft. For a glaze that truly hardens, I think you’d need to do something closer to a royal icing cookie glaze, with an egg white instead.

I LOVE Rustic Fruit Desserts. It’s my go-to cookbook in summertime. (What’s that you say? My most-used cookbook probably shouldn’t have the word “desserts” in the title? OH, WELL.) Now all we need are ripe berries in Seattle!

that is the most beautiful glaze i think i have ever seen. and that batter is gorgeous as well. i love this blog! my husband even knows who “Deb” is and that whenever i mention her name, something delicious is coming his way.

and man oh man, our kid going on “vacation” with the grandparents sounds both painful and amazing! have a great week. ;]

I swear by Baker’s Joy to “grease” the pans. I first heard about it in Rose Berenbaum Levy’s book and have been using it it ever since. Everything, including bundt cakes come out easily and perfectly. BTW, my bundt pan is aluminum, about 20 years old (maybe more).

Absolutely delish! I used frozen berries, and substituted 1 C of the sugar with splenda. I will try all splenda next time. I sprinkled icing sugar on top instead of the glaze… too much fat and calories for our liking. Thanks, this is a great recipe!

Deb, this is one of my favorite recipes from a favorite cookbook. I’ve made it many times with rhubarb and it’s so pretty. It’s excellent with sliced strawberries and terrific with cranberries (both instead of the rhubarb). I have not thought about using mixed berries, but that will be its next incarnation. Great idea!

Deb this is far too elegant looking to be rustic! But I have one in the oven, using half whole wheat flour and only a cup of sugar … I’m debating making the lemon icing – it sounds so delicious! I think I’ll make a half recipe and give it a smear over top. It won’t look as pretty as yours but … maybe more rustic? ;)

This recipe came along just as I was looking for a way to use leftover buttermilk. It comes out tender like you say, but also unusually light. I used half on-their-way-out fresh berries and half frozen berries without a problem. I just ran the frozen berries under warm water to take out the chill and let them drain for a little bit.

Speaking of “cakes overwhelmed with fruit,” I just made your Strawberry Summer Cake, which I’ve been eyeing ever since you first posted it. It was just as delicious as I imagined – I can’t believe it took me a whole YEAR to get around to making it! Thanks Deb for your wonderful recipes :)

We do actually..local strawberries in 2 seasons in mumbai and delhi, and dried blueberries and cranberries are sold loose (by weight) in old kirana stores.. And desi berries like karaunda/karamcha.. Have had great success with all of these..and local strawberries freeze well also

hi, whenever i make a cake with strawberries, the juices ooze out and make the cake soggy !! so how do i prevent that ?
just wanted to know if this happens when u use berries in a cake ?
in all the blogs i follow , cakes using berries, seem to look lovely and not at all soggy !!!

Question, do not have a bundt cake pan, but do have a teflon angel food cake pan, would this work do you think? or would i get seepage from the berry juices? or does it bake up dry enuf that it would not be a problem? My husband would think he died and went to heaven with this cake, berries are his favorite treats of all times, and anything made with them, thanks for this recipe/idea!!!

This looks positively delicious! And it makes me wonder… my daughter of almost 5 would like to a have a chocolat cake with strawberries for her birthday (or the other way around, she wasn’t very specific) – would it be possible to add some cocoa or chocolate, and use a chocolate glaze instead?
Unfortunately, I’m not much of a baker, that’s why I’d appreciate some thoughts on the amount of cocoa/chocolate…. and/or feasibility.
I’ve been reading your blog for a couple of weeks now, and am starting to become a fan :-)

Our “baby” is returning from a study abroad year in France today…and this bundt (sans the lovely icing) is just the “welcome home” hug I was looking to fix. Thanks! And, enjoy that week….because it’s amazing how quickly one week becomes one year….

Hi Deb, would it be possible to substitute olive oil for butter for the cake part of the recipe? I’ve made several pound-type cakes with olive oil for health purposes. If so, can you perhaps tell me how much olive oil you might use? Thanks so much.

Oh, bundts make me sigh. They are truly one of my favorite things, and even though I don’t typically like huge squishy fruits in my baked goods, bundts can make me do almost anything! I would make this cake and love it. It’s PERFECT!

Mmmmm, berry bomb! It’s that time of year already — I even made some mini blueberry Bundts last week (http://kitchenettedc.com/?p=1929). But I have no idea how the heck June went by so fast! Definitely keeping the cranberries in my back pocket for fall, which will apparently be here before I know it…

Rookie baking question: what does the coating of berries with flour accomplish? Is it just to keep from ending up with purple cake?

It looks so beautiful! I first made the recipe last year when I finally bought the book and I used 3 cups of rhubarb and 1/2 of strawberries (a classical duo of rhubarb-strawberries never fails to please.) I also tried it with black currants (3 cups), which everyone ended up enjoying so much that once the season was over, I made a trip to the Polish store on regular basis to pick up the frozen currants.

Gorgeous cake – I love buttermilk cakes, and with berries? A plus. Two questions – did you bake at a lower temperature because of the darker pan (my same bundt pan often burns the outside of cakes, so I lower the oven by 25 degrees – when I remember, that is.)

Second – I was thinking this might be lovely to do as mini-bundts (or mini-mini bundts!) as part of a table of desserts for a July bridal shower. How would you suggest adjusting the baking time? I would guess one batch of this batter as is would make 5 or 6 mini-bundts.

Gayle — Coating the berries with flour is supposed to keep them from sinking. I am only partially convinced that this works — not that the berries sink in this cake, they don’t, but because I think when a batter is thin enough that it will allow berries to sink, a flour coating will hardly stop them. Nevertheless! There’s no reason not to add this extra layer of insurance.

Scott — I would use the same amount, 1 cup. Should work fine.

Barbara — Don’t think you’d get seepage. As long as the tube pan holds 10 cups, you should be fine.

farah — It depends on the cake. This is a very thick cake batter, so the wetness from berries is not an issue. It was also designed to hold rhubarb, one of the most watery fruits (well, it’s a vegetable but for baking purposes…)…

Christine — Ha! It’s actually a very gentle, lovely one. Parents, I urge you not buy the stylish, adorable wooden zylophones but ones actually made by a music company. We almost learned the hard way. The difference in the sound from one that is actually in tune versus off-key clunky discordance is huge. Even if your 2 year old cannot play a single scale (underachiever, obviously), the on-key chimes are a fairly delightful background noise. Also packed: “hakaka!” (harmonica). The plastic ones don’t make as loud a sound, promise.

Susan — I didn’t bake at a lower temperature but I think the cake could have handled it just fine. I haven’t made mini-bundts before (but I almost bought some last week, they were so tempting) so I cannot attest to the baking time. I think it would follow the same time as other cakes for the same pan, however.

Katie — Shouldn’t be a problem at all.

Not that anyone asked — But our evening involved a delicious meal out, cocktails and then we came home and took the entire apartment apart including that carefully crafted gallery wall with umpteen photos so that painters could come today. What was I thinking?! Least fun thing, ever. Please, someone, talk me out of my overly-ambitious plans next time.

The original version of this cake is the one I use when I need to thank a neighbor for a favor, make a friend a birthday cake, or bring something to a picnic. I usually do blueberry and lemon and people gobble it up. The lemon oil in the original is the secret weapon! Also, I freeze extra buttermilk since I never go through it fast enough. Same with cream. Then leave it in the fridge to thaw the night before I need to use it. Seems to work great and reduce the questionable, half-empty dairy products that used to collect in the back of my fridge.

This looks divine, like summer itself! I hope you enjoy your week, with a healthy mix of fun and productivity. (And Alex may sound more like a party, but you sound more like me, so I stand in solidarity.)

I went with a container of blueberries and three large peaches because that is what I had in the fridge. Its in the oven and I am hopeful that it will taste good and that the texture will still be light. The batter tasted great! Thx for the idea!

hi deb, i made this cake just a few hours ago, and its delicious! i used black currants, raspberrys and some blueberrys.. it worked out well!
i have a question – i do not have a bundt pan jet, and i wish to order one. when i looked up bundt pan at amazon, there are more than one suggestions for nordic ware bundt pans. which do you have? thx in advance,
ce.leb

I’m going to make this, but I’m confused about something you posted in the directions. You stated you used one cup each of the three different berries, but that next time you might “make it with a fourth cup . . .” meaning just 1/4 c. of each kind of berry? Doesn’t seem like enough of each, so can’t imagine what you mean, but want to clarify before I make it. Your last part of that sentence was “to make it a berry bomb”, which would imply to make it full of berries. So I’m totally perplexed!

Kathy — Sorry, that was confusing. The recipe, as I made it, used 3 cups and you can too to get the same exact look as mine. If you’d like to “berry bomb” it out, use a fourth cup. Hope that helps!

ce.leb — I have the original shape (though mine looks more in color like this). However, I think just about any of their shapes will work, it’s just a matter of how you’d like your cakes to look.

NRS — It does?! [Runs to get book… whoops!] Uh, yeah. So I wasn’t kidding earlier about the painting and my entire living room and bookcases are covered in plastic while painters are at work. Which means I cannot check the book. I absolutely, definitely used 2 teaspoons. And, given that the cake uses 2 1/2-ish cups of flour and the general recommendations are 1 teaspoon of baking powder for each cup of flour, and that bundts can often need more because they need to yield such tall cakes, I don’t think 2 teaspoons is in any way incorrect. In fact, some bakers would even use 2 1/2. Hope that helps. I’ll try to update this comment when and if I ever see my bookcase again. (Please cross your fingers that it will be tonight. I also have stuff piled in the kitchen and really would like to get back to cooking tomorrow.) Found my book! It does indeed call for 2 teaspoons baking powder.

Hahah, i loved your to-do lists! My fiance are the same, but I’d be the one catching up on TV and he’d be the one actually getting stuff done. :) Although I have to say baking would also be #1 on my priority list!

@Kathy C.: I take “a fourth cup of berries” to mean four cups total instead of the three called for. Either adding a cup of a different kind of berry, or an additional cup of the ones she already used.

FYI with blueberries and peaches the cake is over the top good. It holds together but is softer from the peaches/gooeyier than I think it would be with just berries. I glazed the cake for presentation but it is not necessary. I think it would taste even better without the glaze. Definite keeper!

This is going to jump ahead in my baking list! Just want to confirm the amount of baking powder. I notice that the original recipe calls for 1 tsp. Wanted to make sure that 2 tsps was an intentional change you made. Thanks!

Thanks, Deb, for the clarification. Now I see what you meant. I was interpreting it to mean “1/4” cup, instead of “a fourth cup” – meaning four cups total. Goodness; why do I take everything so LITERALLY ??!

Thanks so much for clarifying Deb! A couple sites i saw that made the cake with rhubarb mentioned the 1 tsp. I should know by now always to trust you; you haven’t led me wrong yet! Sorry for causing a panic, and in the midst of the painting!

I just wanted to say that I recently started a food blog, and you were quite an inspiration. My latest post was for a blackberry yogurt tart…with berry season I alway want to do so many different things to them I’m overwhelmed. And you’re not the only male cook here Phil.

I saw the picture of this cake, marched my laptop over to my husband, and proclaimed, “I want a piece of this cake right now”. I’ve read your website for years, and this is the first time I’ve forced my cakey needs upon someone else. Because this cake looks SO GOOD.

The only time I’ve flowered berries in a recipe was for a currant cheesecake, and it was explained that it was so the currants wouldnt stick together, and would be more evenly distributed upon mixing. Perhaps, this is an answer to how this technique has worked its way into recipes? I don’t see how flouring berries would overcome gravity, preventing them from sinking.

Super Yummy! Just made this for dessert tonight. Only had blueberries and strawberries so I used about 4 cups of them and it came out so good! I don’t have my bundt pan handy so instead I used a springform and extended the cooking time by about 20 min. I used foil so the top didn’t get too dark. I also used lime zest and juice in place of the lemon and it was terrific. I also used the rest of my buttermilk up with the roast chicken recipe you posted a few months ago (April maybe?). That was terrific and this time I am letting it soak for two days!

Your little boy sounds like a riot. And this cake? It looks phenomenal. I’ve been hunting for a summer cake to make for a local blogger get-together and initially thought I’d better make a layer cake but layer cakes are far too much work… this looks like a winner.

LOVED this cake. Baked one yesterday for a pregnant friend and her husband, (and then shared a little with them for afternoon tea). It was every bit as scrumptious as it looks. Thanks Deb! I only had raspberries and cranberries (frozen, as it is the middle of winter in Down Under land (NZ), so fresh are a long way off), and did a 3:1 cup ratio, and added the rind of an orange to offset the cranberry. It was delicious, but I can’t wait to try with blueberries and strawberries and raspberries in the summer time!

I saw that first picture and my mouth began watering. And then I read about your toddler-free plans and laughed out loud. :D Thanks for a great post! And of course, I must absolutely make that cake. YUM!

Oh, and I forgot to add that I used frozen mixed berries (picked out just the blueberries, blackberries, and red raspberries to use – mostly leaving the huge strawberries aside) because I didn’t have any fresh. I let them thaw while I mixed everything else, but they weren’t completely thawed before I coated in flour and used them.

So anyone who is wanting this recipe in the dead of winter, pick up a bag of unsweetened frozen mixed berries! Can’t compare to the fresh berries, but the frozen certainly made a really good cake!!

How many tablespoons is considered the
“juice of one lemon”? I have a meyer lemon tree
in my yard which produces, as my children say,
enormous “mutant”
lemons . Each lemon yields
at least 1/2 -3/4 cup of juice which is always too
much in recipes. So is the required amount
about 1/4 cup?

Juice of one lemon = I get 2 to 3 tablespoons. You can whisk it in a tablespoon at a time until you get the consistency you want. I agree that it was not a very helpful measurement, which I took directly from the original recipe.

Debbi — I haven’t tried it but see no reason it wouldn’t work as muffins.

Oh! My! Berry Goodness! After making 3 batches of your summer strawberry cake this week (2 made into cupcakes that worked really well) and 1 into a sheet cake and having all of them thankfully devoured (they were thank you gifts for our boys teachers, etc and the cake was for a bake sale) I have to say I love that recipe and how easy and delicious it is. So of course I need to make this one now. I have stemmed currants in my freezer and strawberries and raspberries needing to be made into something and a huge thing of buttermilk – I must therefore make this cake. Thanks!

I have a refrigerator full of raspberries and the blackberries are coming on soon, so this is the perfect recipe! I love that I can switch out the fruit and use it all year. It liiks divine! I will be trying it shortly. Thanks!

Like Connie, #167, I happen to have a bag (not a tree full) of enormous..the size of a kids Nerf football, enormous…lemons. I’m going to guess the lemon zest in the recipe to be about 1 tablespoon. Right? I’m so far removed from those market Sunkist lemons since I’ve lived in CA that I can’t often gauge how much zest or juice the typical lemon renders anymore. Neighbors with lemon trees sneak bags of these monsters on your doorstep after dark so you won’t catch them doing it. Man, it’s almost worse than having gardeners foist zucchini off on you while you’re busy! Terrible problem to have to deal with, eh? Ha!

It’s funny, I was just talking with some friends the other day about bunt cakes (say the word bunt in a heavy Greek accent). And then I got an email with this recipe!! All that’s missing is the plant in the middle!!(hopefully you get the reference)

Seriously, this cake looks amazing!! I have to bring a cake into the office on Friday. This will be the one I’ll bring. I just have to run out and get a bundt pan. (regretting not keeping mine)(laughing because I’m still saying “bundt” in a heavy Greek accent, don’t think that will ever go away now, LOL)

Love your blog Deb!! Enjoy the time away from your little one. They grow so fast!! He’ll be three inches taller when he comes home. (or so it will seem) I’m also thinking that this would be the perfect time for you and Alex to add making another baby to your list!!! :-)

I made this cake last night to bring to work today for a friend’s birthday. I don’t have a bundt pan, so I used a boring old 8×8 (or 9×9? not sure) pan, and then made a few cupcakes out of the rest of the batter (baked for about half the time)…which means that this morning I got to have this, in cupcake form, For Breakfast! It has berries–surely it is nutritious! So now I already know that it is delicious even before I cut up the cake at work. I have been inspired to buy a bundt pan, though, because the presentation here is gorgeous. Thanks for the recipe!

Deb,
Made the cake last night. Baked for 55 minutes, toothpike came out clean. Cooled for 30 minutes, inverted the cake, and the entire top of the cake was stuck to the bottom of the very saturated with Pam bundt pan! Most of what stuck was berries….the cake was delicious, but boy, it looked like an accident. Any suggestions on what I should have done better/differently? I’m thinking maybe don’t add the berries to the batter, but pour batter in the pan, then berries, then batter, alternating… what do you think? I feel like a bundt cake failure….

As a baker when I read this recipe over I said… Yup. That’s a keeper. I made it last night (took it out of the oven at midnight right before we went to bed! Talk about torture!Ha!) let it cool overnight and frosted it this morning. I put 4 cups of strawberries, red raspberries and blueberries in and it’s awesome. The berry flavor is really smashing! Thanks for another great bundt recipe Deb.

It’s in the oven right now, and I definitely boosted the berry amounts up…maybe over 4 cups, as I was awfully casual about the measuring in that department…Oh dear, the bundt pan was very full! Hope it doesn’t rise too much! Couldn’t tell from your photos. Fingers crossed. Will know in one hour….

Everything was great until I inverted after cooling for 30 minutes…left about 1/8 of a cup in the pan….well greased with butter;(, the batter seemed very moist….so serving in glass cups with a little bit of cream friche between layers. Still pretty just not in bundt cake form.

Do you think this could be made into a layer cake with buttercream frosting? Would you suggest doubling it or is this enough for 2 layers as it is? It’s a friends birthday, and she hates chocolate (uh….what?) so my old standard cakes are out. This looks lovely and I have raspberries growing in my alley :)

How do you always know exactly what I want to make? It’s like you’re… psychic! Or just really good at this blog thing … :) Beautiful cake, love the glaze (mine usually turns translucent and boring, too).

Looks so yummy! I also am going through toddler withdrawl, but for twin boys and not just one. Miss them a lot. But they are also at Camp Grandparents having a lovely time without us. My kid-free list looks like yours and DH would rather spend every night going out with friends. I think I won most of the time. We’re supposed to go out tonight and have friends over tomorrow, but most of the time has been spent on my list.

Lynn- missed your 1st post,….sounds like the exact “failure”. My berries were very juicy…..thanks for noting …it was tasty, but did look terrible. I want to try again, but am not feeling that the results may be different. My friends 60 bday in two weeks…any ideas?

177 & 194 Here is my method:
Grease the pan with melted butter using a pastry brush to get every little nook and cranny then flour making sure that you did not miss any spots. Then I put the pan in the freezer while I prepare my recipe. I know this sounds a little OCD but it works 99.9% of the time.

Marielle — I think it might have too much batter. According to this chart, 2 8-inch pans will hold 8 cups batter. I’m pretty sure this cake is 10 cups.

Cake sticking to the pan — I am so sorry this is happening. Bundts can be tricky. Greasing the heck out of it is the only way to avoid it. (I swear by my highly chemical, don’t-wanna-know-what’s-in-it butter-and-flour spray from Baker’s Joy. It is one of my favorite things, ever.)

Nikki — If you’re asking because you don’t have and/or don’t want to buy buttermilk, you can make soured milk at home and use it as a replacement. The acidity is important to get the right crumb.

Hi there – I had some trouble with getting this out of the pan. I went with 3 1/2 cups of berries. All seemed fine, waited the 30 mins to remove from pan – and it all just fell apart! I think the tenderness from the berries basically made it too heavy, and it gave way right along the middle. Half on the cooling rack, half still in the pan. Maybe anything more than 3 cups is too much? It is still delicious, but a crumbled mess. I suspect smaller pans – either loaf or muffins would have averted this particular mess. I am thinking I might just pile it into into a 9 x 11 pan, drizzle with the glaze, and call it breakfast for my kids.

Made this today and the cake turned out beautifully! My only issue was with the glaze…When I whisked it all together, it still had the consistency of powdered sugar, and I couldn’t get it to liquefy. Any tips on what I did wrong for next time? I ended up doing a lemon glaze on the stove with powdered sugar, lemon, and water, which was still yummy! :)

We are not happy. Just as dw, half of my cake is on the cooling rack, the rest still in the pan. It took me years to be confident enough to bake a cake (I can do anything with yeast, but baking powder…..)….And since I’m told that there are not enough raspberries on our canes, I guess I’ll have to wait until next year before I try again. And I thought it would make such a wonderful July 4th dessert.

OH MY!!!! I just had my first slice…I kept saying “oh my goodness, oh my goodness!” when I was eating it. My daughter said, “mom, what? you keep saying, ‘oh my goodness’.” I said, “taste THIS!” and then she tasted it and it all became crystal clear.
This is a winner!! Love it!

And I totally relate to your divided approach to “staycationing”. sigh…

Just had to tell you this cake is sitting on my counter waiting for a bunch of teenage girls to devour it after swimming. I so want to sneak a piece before they do! My daughter and I saw it yesterday and we had all the ingredients so she made it this morning for party.

I made this today with the hinted at extra cup of berries, how could I resist?!? I think I should not have tempted fate as the cake literally fell to bits when I lifted the pan off, and I am not talking the kind where half is still stuck in the pan… I think if you add the extra berries you have to wait way longer than 30 minutes to flip the cake. The cake was very moist with all the berries and still tastes amazing in a pile on the plate! I used a non-stick bundt and plenty of non-stick spray and still wound up with a mess so be forewarned!!

Oh this looks amazing! Perfect bundt cake for the summer! I actually just made your coconut raspberry macaroons and posted them on my new gluten free blog! I love that they are already gluten free :) Now I’m going to have to try and make this cake gluten free…I’ll let you know how it turns out and I’ll be sure to post the recipe on my blog!

I know what I am buying at the farmers market next week!! Must make this cake.. although, I may go without the glaze and just dust with powdered sugar… Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE glaze. But it has been so hot that I don’t know how my stomach would handle it.

LOL @ the closed captioning!!! It’s gotten so I can’t even watch tv without it, WITH the sound on! so funny. My to-do list would look the same (and my husband’s would manage to look even less ambitious than your hubby’s)
Can’t wait to try this cake :)

Delicious! We absolutely loved it. It didn’t come out of the bundt completely perfectly, but it was only the thinnest top layer of crumb that was left behind in the pan. The glaze was perfect. We did rationalize having it for breakfast today! :)

I made this last night and it turned out delicious. I had the same problem as others – cake sticking to the bundt pan. I sprayed it thoroughly before and waited closer to an hour before inverting but a couple of pieces still broke off. Also, I found it to be sweet enough that I felt that adding icing would make it way too sweet so I ended up skipping that part (although next time I’ll definitely try it with icing). Thanks for yet another great recipe!

I’m back to report on my results: (see above–my bundt pan was quite full, used at least 4 cups of fruit, probably a bit more…) Other than upping the amount of fruit (I used strawberries, raspberries and blueberries) I followed the recipe exactly. Well, I did use vanilla bean paste, not extract, but really…..

I apparently do not have a 10 cup pan, but it still baked up perfectly. It did rise about an inch higher than the top of the pan, but there was no sagging after it came out. It did need more than 60 minutes of baking time, probably more like 65 or 68min. My pan is non-stick, and I still buttered AND sprayed it, as commenters had made me nervous about the cake sticking. After cooling for 30 min. it came out nicely, no sticking whatsoever.

Used every bit of frosting/icing, and it came out looking just like your photo! I was very pleased. Then served it later to a group of eager Venture scouts, and it got rave reviews. I think it is one of the best tasting cakes I’ve ever made–and in the last few weeks, I’ve made your strawberry cake four times (added chocolate chips sometimes, peaches sometimes)–so that is high praise indeed.

Hope the painting has been going well–Nice to have some time to accomplish some tasks without worrying about keeping all tools, etc. out of little hands (and mouths.)

Thanks, again, for another fabulous recipe. I’ve been telling everyone I meet, “check out the recipes on the web at smitten kitchen!”

I don’t know if anyone else posted something like this, but I thought someone might like my Gluten-Free conversion :)

instead of 2.5 cups of flour, I used 2 cups of Arrowhead Mills all purpose gluten free baking mix, plus half a cup of almond flour, and almond flour for dusting berries.
+2 teaspoons of guar and/or xantham gum, do not exceed 2 tsp total.
I used a full cup of buttermilk instead of 3/4 cup, but this may vary on humidity/god knows what else.
Everything else, used as called for in the recipe.

Suggestion for stuck bundt pans. Get some foil/parchment paper. The stuff Reynolds came up with that’s foil on one side and parchment on the other. Press the foil side down into the pan and into the creases- you may have to use a few pieces and cut into them to keep from bunching. I didn’t grease the parchment side AT ALL and it turned out perfectly!

PS – Deb, are you aware that people all over the place have stolen your guiness cupcake recipe? :(

I made it with 4 cups of blueberries and blackberries (right out of the garden) in my nonstick nordicware and it turned out perfectly. Someone cut it before I made the glaze, so I saved those calories for a rainy day – or maybe for a few porch swing cocktails this weekend!

Any thoughts on making this with frozen berries? Trader Joe’s has a great (and inexpensive) berry mix. Would this alter the recipe at all? I saw one comment that she used frozen, but not sure if I would need to change anything else…

Frozen berries — No reason they wouldn’t work. Since they tend to be more watery, however, I might hesistate before upping the amount to 4 cups, if frozen.

Bundt pans sticking — I was thinking more about the sticking issue some of you are facing and realize, quite obviously, that the reason was right in front of my face! My Nordicware bundt is nonstick and my impression is that most folks with nonstick bundts aren’t having release problems. People without nonstick bundts (or, just regular bundts) are having sticking issues. Is this correct? If so, I will add additional GREASE! FLOUR! SPRAY! notes above for those without nonstick.

(And if you’re shopping around, I gotta say, the nonstick bundt is pretty awesome. On most other cook- and bake-ware, I don’t care at all for nonstick. But the bundt? Brilliant idea.)

i tried this recipe last night but with a few substitutions.
i used buttermilk powder. i had no lemon zest so used lime zest instead. also i used 3 cups frozen diced strawberries instead of the mixed berries. the result was a strawberry-lime bundt cake really. still though, it turned out really well and tasted yummy.
baked for 55 minutes exactly. small bits of cake stuck to the pan after cooling for 30 minutes but the cake managed to keep it’s shape. i greased the pan with loads of butter and then sprinkled the pan with some flour just in case. (you should try this especially if you worry about your cake getting stuck. for chocolate (cup)cakes just sprinkle cocoa powder after greasing.)
for the glaze i used lime juice. it was very sweet and will not pour all of it on the cake next time.
all in all, a success! thank you for this recipe.

I’m just popping back in to say that I used a little over 4 cups of really juicy berries and my cake neither stuck to the pan or fell apart… if you are at all a skilled baker I think you can forge ahead with absolute confidence to use the extra berries here. It’s not the recipe if you had problems…. it’s solid.

Lovely. I will bake this for my sis-in-law and grandmother who share the same birthday July 1. I can’t wait to get my hands on your book. I started following smitten kitchen in 2006. You taught me how to BAKE AND COOK! Congratulations…I’m already anticipating your second book. :)

Another beautiful and delicious post – I love the contrast of the white icing with the intensity of the purple blueberries. And while I love rhubarb, I really think I’d prefer it with the blueberries – they’re so delicious in coffee cakes… I’m featuring this in today’s Food Fetish Friday (with a link-back and attribution). I hope you have no objections and I always love dropping by to see what you’ve created…

I made this today for a dinner with some friends; it was a huge hit! Really light, and the glaze was perfect. Of course, the three cups of fresh blackberries from the backyard helped too! My first foray into baking in a long while.

Glad to hear I wasn’t the only one who had problems with a little sticking. I thought it was just me! Still tasted fantastic though. I brought the cake to my parents the other night and they loved it. My parents and brother commented on how nice the addition of lemon zest was. It’s the perfect summer cake!

I made this yesterday, and it’s wonderful. I used the full 4 cups off fruit (peaches, blueberries and raspberries) and I would definitely use the same amount again. I substituted creme fraiche for the buttermilk (because that’s what I had in the fridge – this is Northern California, after all) and served it with whipped cream instead of glazing it, as my SO thinks whipped cream is the greatest food on earth, so why disappoint the man? I finally, finally, got my hands on a can of Baker’s Joy and the cake slipped right out of the pan, perfectly intact. I’ve been having a Bundt Cake festival – a new one every week – and this fit right into the festivities!

Thanks, Deb, for thinking about the sticking issue, and you are correct! My bundt is not a non-stick. So, I have just ordered the Nordicware nonstick pan, because frankly, this recipe is too good to not make again and to not have it look wonderful! It’s worth it to me to spend $30.00 on a pan that will be foolproof!!
Thanks!

Hi there, I love your recipes and make them quite often. I also had a sticking problem with this recipe though the cake was an absolutely delicious berry buttermilk pile. Next time, I’ll butter AND flour the bundt pan

Made this last night with strawberries and apricots, it was super moist and out of this world delicious – almost like a cake version of summber cobbler. Mmmm! I did have one question though, because I used fresh fruits that required cutting and therefore released quite a bit of juice it came out maybe slightly more moist than it should be. Would you suggest cutting back on 1/4 cup of the buttermilk to counter this? The only other thought I have is to cut the fruit ahead of time and put it into a strainer with a bowl underneath to cut out some moisture – but I have a 2 year old at home and the extra time required to do that is NOT appealing to me. :-) Cutting out a moist ingredient would be much easier! Thanks for sharing the recipe!

Hi Deb,
I LOVE your site!!!! I made this cake on Tuesday and despite my generous spray of the bundt pan, mine did crumble as I was inverting the cake. I let it cool for the 30 minutes but wonder if I should’ve waited longer. I also added a little more berries like you mentioned so wonder if that was the problem. Also, my batter didn’t seem as thick as yours. I have used all the ingredients you did. I am making it again today and will see how it goes. I think I’ll let it cool longer in the pan since I have to take it on the road. At the last minute I did get brave and add one more cup of strawberries! We’ll see!! Regardless, it’s was SOOO delicious despite it’s presentation:)

Made the night before dinner guests were coming with a generous cup (each) of blackberries, blueberries and chopped strawberries. I was so nervous about it coming out clean because of the reviews (and previous experience). My Nordicware bundt’s non-stick coating is a bit scratched in places. I sprayed liberally with Pam w/flour, stuck the pan in the freezer while making the cake, then sprayed again for good measure before scooping the cake in. Followed Deb’s cooling instructions and used a thin silicon spatula to loosen the edges before inverting. It came out perfect!

I halved the glaze recipe in case some people didn’t want any. It was very tart when I taste-tested it but it was fantastic with the actual cake, though not nearly as pretty as Deb’s (much runnier and more translucent). When I poured more glaze after letting it sit a bit, it was much thicker and more opaque. Regardless, it was delicious.

Made today using fresh nectarines and frozen blackberries which I thawed little,came out great. I used one loaf pan and four small bundt pans which i had buttered and floured beforehand,they all came out easily .Perfect for afternoon tea

My 15 year old daughter made this–she’s a major fan of yours–and we followed the directions exactly…no problems getting it out of the pan. We don’t have a non stick bundt pan, just used “baking spray” (flour/oil spray combo) and it came right out. We actually did it after 20 minutes. It is now glazed and waiting for us to devour after dinner–looks and smells amazing!!

i made it last night w/ some berries from the farmers market…i upped it to 3 1/2 cups. what a beautiful and delicious cake! my husband was picking at it right when it came out of the oven. that’s a good sign. i love the addition of the butter to the glaze. i make a lemon cake that is a lemon juice / powdered sugar glaze, but this was just nice and thick. beautiful! i used pam + flour and i had no problems w/ the cake coming out cleanly. thanks for a beautiful recipe that helped me use my farmer’s market fruit!

I heard about your site only 3 weeks ago and became fan with the first post I saw. I love baking and I am trying to learn everything I can. I’ve already tried 3 recipes and all of them were great!
Two questions, when measuring flour cups, should I always consider packed cups or only when specified it? And, should I always sift the flour even if it’s not mentioned?
Thanks!

Karina — Actually, you should never pack cups. You either want to spoon-and-sweep (spoon flour gently into the measuring cup then sweep it flat with a knife or something level) or fluff-and-scoop (fluffing the flour in the canister before scooping gently and sweeping the top flat). Ideally, the flour should be loose in the cup.

Well, I am going to attempt once again…I do have a non-stick HOWEVER, I think it is one of the original non-stick pans, at least 30+ years old. The Nordic factory is just down a bike path from my house, so might look to see what “new” non-sticks they might have. Wish me luck, will do the butter/flour/freezer methods this time. The first one was really tasty, just not as pretty as Deb’s photos!

I just made the triple berry bundt cake. I don’t remember when the last time was that a cake would not come out of the pan….this was exactly what happen. It was a total mess…..not worth the mess it made…and the garbage disposal ate. Always a first time…but never again with this recipe.

Delish! I made this today with blueberries and blackberries and extra large eggs. It came out perfectly and released from my non-stick bundt pan. I think this cake may end up at a Fourth of July party with red and blue berries as garnish. Thank you!

About the sticking: I just got a Bundt pan that is not nonstick, and here is the method I have been using, adapted from the advice boards at King Arthur flour’s site:

Using equal parts oil and flour, paint the heck out of the inside of the pan. 1 TB of each worked for my pan. Then flip it over for a little while (10 or so min) so that the liquid that pooled at the bottom of the pan has a chance to be redistributed.

Let the pan cool for at least 1/2 hour after it comes out of the oven, and then flip. Nothing has stuck so far! (And I have the Fleur de lis pan from Nordicware.)

just made this, it smells delicious, BUT even with a new non-stick pan and lots of PAM the entire top ripped off of the cake when I took it out of the pan :( boo, too bad it was for a party. I think I’ll serve it upside down!

Made this today, AWESOME!! Came out perfect, just like the picture, the frosting too! I did add a touch of milk because the frosting wouldn’t move! Once I got it thick enough to fall…BEAUTIFUL!!! Thanks for this recipe, it was great, and super easy!

Sprayed my pan, waited 30 min, came out like a charm! :)
Woo Hoo, another one to chalk up in the chart of goodness!
Thank You!!

I made this yesterday afternoon. I used 3 cups of mixed berries and also 2 fresh peaches cut into chunks. Delicious. By 10PM at night over half the cake had been devoured by my family of four. I do think that Deb is correct in that MORE fruit could only add to the yumminess of the cake. Even with the addition of the peaches, my children were hunting for the slices with the most fruit. I think next time I will try it with peaches only, sans frosting, and a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Thank you!

YUM!! Made this yesterday morning with 3.5 cups of berries. Love the freshness of the lemon zest in it, as well as the fresh lemon juice in the icing. Family had it yesterday and today, and it just keeps tasting better and better! Thanks for a keeper, we absolutely love it!

Made it in the spiral bundt pan. Have you seen these http://tinyurl.com/769kj9o)? I don’t much care for the pan. Looks a little too dramatic. Nevertheless, it released just fine minus a couple of berries stuck in the ridges. Nothing a little lemon glaze can’t fix. Coworkers loved it. The CEO of our company named me the Chief Pastry Chef — ha!

Dearest Deb and my fellow readers, where do you get your cake plates? I’ve been on a search for over a year now. I don’t want a cake stand. I’ve tried using my dinner plate, but it’s just a little bit too small/sloped for 9 inch cakes. The plate that Deb has in the picture looks perfectly flat and the sized well. This one (http://tinyurl.com/6ojrgt5) looked promising, but it’s gigantic. Any ideas?

Olga — The ridges in that pan always do look trickier. But I think it’s nonstick coated, right? Thank goodness. I don’t have a favorite flat cake plate, wish I did. The one you see up there is the base to an old cake carrier that I’ve since broken the top of (and by “I’ve” I do in fact mean “toddler has”) and haven’t replaced. Well, I tried to replace it but (this story is about to get both ridiculous and dull) twice it was sent to me broken and then when I went to do a third exchange (nothing gets between me and a decent cake carrier!) I received an email from the company that they’d rather refund me my purchase because it was probably going to arrive broken again. I haven’t had a decent cake carrier since, sob.

This is a wonderful cake! So different and pretty. I heaped fresh strawberries around it and threw a few in the “hole” in the middle. I put it on a big crystal platter and man did it ever look impressive. It was delicious! Thanks for another wonderful recipe!

Yum! Made this tonight for my sister and grandfather. Used cherries, blackberries, and blueberries, and made it in a rectangular pan (no bundt in my grandfather’s kitchen) – used the buttered-pan-in-fridge trick and it came out easily. Delicious – definitely entering the repertoire!

I gotta say, I totally stalk this website! It’s the highlight of my workweek (I work 3-12 hour shifts). This is the first one I’ve tried, but I love all your ideas! Of course I’m doing this in the middle of a severe thunderstorm with possible tornadoes, but I just couldn’t resist! My coworkers tomorrow will love this! I made it in 2 loaf pans and mine have taken about 55 min to bake, so I highly recommend checking your cakes before assuming the proper time. Your ideas are so wonderful and I love your pictures! Your son is adorable as well and I love your insights into childhood. Keep up the good work!

I was really afraid of this sticking to the pan because EVERY bunt cake I’ve ever made has stuck in some way or another. I followed your instruction to grease the pan to high heaven (I used the “S” word— shortening), then flour it and then freeze it. This is the FIRST bunt cake I’ve made which hasn’t had ANY crumbs left behind in the pan. I also turned it onto the cooling rack at about 15-20 min rather than 30. Without a doubt, this is the most beautiful cake I’ve ever made. It’s the perfect golden brown and the pops of berry color are so pretty! And I haven’t even applied the glaze yet! Haven’t even tasted it yet but I’m positive it will be good. Thank you for sharing!!

I followed the recipe exactly – and unfortunately it sort of came out no better than a over-sized muffin. Nothing really decadent or overly exciting. The cake did finish baking in those last minutes as you have detailed. And I did add that extra cup of berries. Sort of a shame I wasted all those berries – they could of been great on their own. I’ll keep trying your recipes – I’ve been following you since day 1. But needed to let you know this one was a disappointment for me. It smelled great – looked great and had all the promise of something fantastic. Maybe over-hyped?

I made this recipe yesterday for a friends & family bbq – little Samantha, who is a smidge over two, thanked me three times for making it! All that remained for today’s breakfast was a tiny wedge, barely enough for a taste this morning!
I don’t have a bundt pan, and instead used my angel food cake pan (is that considered a bundt pan too?!?) and let it cool a little extra before the acrobatic feat of inverting it onto the cooling rack and then inverting it again onto the cake plate….I also added a few rasberries to the glaze – I crushed them in as I was whisking it, turning the whole thing a light pink with little rasberry bits popping out all over the place. Overall it was a great hit – reminded my parents of a blueberry cake my grandmother used to make.
Thanks for such a great recipe :)

A non-stick bundt pan is the only way to go! I made this for my husbands birthday. We used blueberries only, as we’d gone and picked a couple of pounds the week before. My issue is, they all sunk to the bottom. Is it because I used just blueberries? It wasn’t as pretty as yours, but it still tasted superb! Thanks for the recipe!

Deb, I’m a transplant New Yorker originally from CA and frequently find comfort in whipping up your recipes in every tiny apartment-sized stove/oven I’ve encountered. I don’t usually leave reviews, but I’ve been baking nonstop since I’ve been visiting my mother in CA (normal size oven…hello?!) and my family keeps asking, “where did you FIND this recipe???”. My latest endeavor was this cake. Swapped out blackberries for diced strawberries since we had them on hand, and it was an out-of-the-park hit..even with the fruit loathing 11-year-old nephew. When my Betty Crocker-esque mother asked where I found the recipe and I said an NYCer,, she promptly replied, “Oh, I didn’t think any of them knew how to work an oven!” Thanks, Deb, for shattering my Mom’s stereotyping. Keep the recipes coming…I promise to drool and continue making them in every matchbox sized kitchen to come. Can’t wait for the cookbook!

Hi Deb! I made this cake yesterday, just with strawberries and raspberries, and it turned out AMAZING! so soft and tender, and the whole kitchen smelled like raspberries! my husband doesn´t like cakes at all, but he love this cake as it was full of fresh fruit! also it turned out huge!
Thanks for this incredible recipe. loved it and will make it again soon!

I foist most baking off on my husband’s coworkers so as not to eat it all myself. This one was hard to let go of. The piece my husband brought me home was outstanding, and the man who has very few desserts he likes told me he’d be fine with me making this one again. A total winner!

Dear Deb,
I’m a first time commenter, long time reader, and just have to say that this is your best cake yet! I am a bundt kinda gal. Your recipes and tweaks on others always preform, and I thought it finally time to thank you for your precision and cues you give for modifications.

Good God, this cake is incredible. Made it tonight with strawberries and blueberries, and buttermilk that “expired” in February (I love that it never really seems to expire, don’t you?). I love when a recipe turns out perfectly and can added to the repertoire! Success! Thanks again :)

This cake is awesome & what a hit for a fundraising celebration we did today! Had people asking for the recipe, and it pleased all ages. Your recipe directions on this were fantastic. I think fluffing the butter & sugar & zest for 5min really helped. Thank you!

Made the cake this weekend and followed the directions exactly. I also heeded the advice in previous comments – buttered the cake pan generously, then stuck it in the freezer for a bit, then sprayed with a layer of PAM for good measure, and finally sprinkled with a bit of flour. One tiny piece of the cake stuck to the pan but was easily covered up with the glaze. Delicious! Will try it again and perhaps with even more berries!

the cake… oh, the cake… so, so, so good. i used generous cupfuls of blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries, and the zest of 2 lemons. it took about 63 minutes to bake; my oven’s weird, so i kept checking it every 4 or 5 minutes after the 50 minute mark. as far as sticking… i’ve found if i use very soft butter and a brush, i can coat the pan well and get into all the crevices, then flour. it also helps if i butter the edges, at the top and around the hole, so the cake doesn’t stick there either. despite all that, i felt the cake breaking when i tried to turn it out (when it comes out properly, you can feel it slide out and the pan gets very light all at once; this was very uneven feeling). i flipped it back over, went around the edges again with a plastic knife (the best thing i have available), and this time the cake came out fine, leaving behind only a small clump of berries that had been at the bottom. because the berries make the cake so moist and soft, i think next time i might let it cool a bit longer in the pan, hopefully firming it up some more. as for the glaze, i made mine really thin because powdered sugar icings are always way too sweet to me. i used maybe a scant cup and a half to a whole lemon, which made it so liquidy that this morning it’s soaked in; not as pretty, but so, so tasty. (especially when you can justify it for breakfast.)

Ok, so I love so many of your recipes… And this one is no exception. I do have the rustic dessert cookbook on my wish list, next to yours, of course.

I made it tonight, but got a little carried away with the fruit… It’s hard not to right now as it is so abundant. I was aiming for 4 cups, but probably used more… And the raspberries were crazy soft. Soooo, it was a little wet. Maybe a very tiny bit undercooked.

BUT- even with all that it was freaking delicious! I had a bit of rhubarb, some raspberries, blackberries, strawberries…

So since it was for a party tomorrow, I remade it (sadly no more rhubarb) in 2 small bunt pans, with a little less fruit, and they seemed to cook a little more evenly.

No such thing as a wasted cake- hubby, kids and office will be all the more grateful for the slightly imperfect result.
Thanks for the recipes… Please keep ’em coming!

Deb, I love you and I’ve been with you since day 1 of SK, but I’m pretty peeved about this recipe. I have a Nordicware nonstick bundt pan. I gave it a good dose of nonstick spray, and every bit of this cake clung to the pan. I read the comments afterward and found that this appears to be a common issue. I don’t understand why you wouldn’t advise people to butter and flour the pan from the start. I felt assured that a coating of spray would work, when it clearly doesn’t. Sorry, it’s just frustrating to blow so much money on fruit, just to wind up with a mess of a cake.

Made the cake last night using 1 1/2 cups rhubarb and 1 1/2 cups strawberries. What a wonderful, light cake. Next time I would however reduce the amount of sugar as it turned out to be quite sweet. That’s also why I didn’t make the glaze. Baked it in a non-stick cake pan which I greased and floured and didn’t have any problems removing the cake from the pan.

Deb, I screwed up this cake from the very start. I forgot to take out two sticks of butter, so I used one stick and a half cup of canola oil. I thought that I had buttermilk in the fridge but had apparently used every last drop making pancakes, so I used plain organic yogurt (thank you Trader Joe’s!). I had no more lemons! I threw in all of our leftover fruit salad without even measuring. I didn’t make a glaze. And despite my mistakes and substitutions, it was utterly and completely perfect. Soft, moist, and so delicious that it has replaced the Strawberry Summer Cake as my new favorite. Such a great recipe! I am counting the days until your book comes out…

Made this cake last Sunday for dessert for my father. I did use four coup of berries..strawberries cut into chunks, blueberries, blackberries and raspberries.
I sprayed my pan with butter pam making sure to get ridges…cake popped right out. Had to use juice of one and half lemons to get frosting as pictured….but the cake looked exactly like the photo and was delicious. Everyone raved about it. I couldn’t imagine not using real buttermilk….it’s worth it!

I made this cake this weekend, using two cups of halved cherries and two cups of blueberries. Also used brown sugar and almond extract instead of vanilla. It was so wonderful! I used non-stick spray with flour, and it popped write out of the pan.

Made this cake for our weekly game night, and it was great! I actually spaced while reading the recipe and used only 1 stick of butter, and not 2, and it was still fantastic! Don’t think I would want to add that extra stick back in, actually. Good to know for those of us who might balk at two whole sticks in one cake! :D (And, it came right out of the pan, which I greased with both coconut oil and butter, and then floured.)

I made this cake last Sunday to bring to church and everyone loved it. Didn’t have blackberries so I substituted cherries. Also had no buttermilk so I used lemon juice in milk. The cake was light, full of wonderful fruit and oh so good! Will be making this over and over again. Thanks for ther recipe. I think it’s the healthiest cake I’ve ever made (because of all the fruit, of course!) It also looks very pretty on the plate.

To all the folks whose cakes got stuck I have two words: Baker’s Joy. It’s the spray Deb recommended that has non-stick spray and flour in it. I have an ancient bundt pan and my cake slipped out perfectly, thanks to that magic spray! I think I used about FIVE cups of fruit (blue and blackberries) and there was still plenty of cakie goodness to go around. I love moist cakes and this was the moisty-ness! My glaze was a bit thin but still delicious. We’ve been enjoying this cake for breakfast. This cake and the strawberry cake, which are incredibly forgiving and can be made with any kind of berry, are now part of my regular summer routine for baking with fresh fruit. Thanks, Deb and happy fourth!

I’ve never greased a non-stick bundt pan as much as I did when I made this and still half the cake stayed in the top of the pan. I followed the directions exactly, the only thing I can think is it wasn’t cool enough to come out after sitting just 30minutes…

Great post, deb! I know all about the kids and the grandparents routine…it seems like when we return my 3-year old thinks he can tell all of us what to do and it will happen! Just a note….vexed, not vexxed. I hate people correcting me, but I hate typos more-I guess…

Made this early this morning for a red white and blue themed cake. It is so moist and the tang is just right for the berries. I topped this with some lemon icecream and it was devine. I think this would be good with just some sweet whipped cream and a fork! I also added more berries since I love the taste of sweet berries and a dollop of greek yogurt for extra moisture and tang. Very tasty!

I just made this, and Oh My God! It is so incredibly good. It turned out beautifully with the exception of the berries. They all sunk. I coated them in flour as directed, and they were evenly mixed into the batter. However, when I cut the cake, there was a ring of berries at the top. Any suggestions on how to stop the berries from sinking? I plan to make this again for a party next week, so I want it to look as beautiful as it tastes.

I made this cake today and was SO excited – then it all blew up in my face. Not sure what happened…the top never released from the pan and all the berries seemed concentrated in the extremely squishy and goopy middle. I let it cool at least 2 hours since the top of the pan was still too hot to touch after 30 minutes.

Any suggestions for next time? It still tastes REALLY good – just not as gorgeous as the picture. I want to make it again but want to have an idea of what to adjust for the next go-round.

Wow! I became a fan of yours when I stumbled upon the buttermilk chicken, and you haven’t disappointed me yet. My cake didn’t turn out quite as attractive, but the taste is spectacular! Thank you for yet another winner!

Made this cake today, and it came out beautifully! The only odd thing, though, was that mine took almost 2 hours! I believe that it was probably my silicone bundt pan, I don’t think my oven temp is that off! Anyways, it was complimented, and more than half consumed by a shamefully little amount of people, I had to ship the rest off before eating it all solo! Thanks!

I made this cake this afternoon and brought it to a friends 4th of July party. Pfeople were going back for THIRDS! I received more compliments for this cake than I have for anything else I’ve cooked, ever. It’s amazing. You’ve outdone yourself with this one.

I made this wonderful cake today and my husband and I just loved it. No issues with berries dropping to the bottom or the cake sticking to my bundt pan ( I melted a tablespoon of butter,spread it thoroughly all over the pan with a silicone baster,
floured it and stuck it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes). I used three cups total of a mixture of blueberries, raspberries and blackberries. Next time I’ll probably substitute something else for the blackberries ’cause the seeds are a little ” chewy”. Thanks for another fantastic recipe!

Love this cake. My version had no frosting/glaze (nobody missed it) & was dubbed the Black & Blue Cake since it just had blueberries & blackberries (because I was making Raspberry & Dark Chocolate jam & forgot to save out some raspberries).

I used 3 duck eggs instead of chicken eggs – they were roughly the size of XL eggs & I got a lovely tall cake. Now I’ve added this book to my Amazon list. That make 4 purchases based on your blog Deb (including your book when it’s out).

Deb- Looking at your pictures, my batter was definitely thinner. It was still pretty thick, so I didn’t worry too much about it at the time. When I make it again next weekend, I will pay close attention to what I am doing to see where it thinned out. Cross your fingers that it turns out correct next time. Either way, it still tastes amazing, so I will be making it again and again and again. Thanks!

I am not a “good” cook but I made this yesterday, following your directions to the letter and the helpful comments from your fan club. It turned out perfectly and was the best bundt I ever made. BTW – I just pre-ordered your recipe book and counting the days until I receive it. Thanks

Made this yesterday with a couple tweaks and it was a huge success. I used about 3/4 cup white whole wheat flour and reduced the rest of the flour by a Tbsp. Discovered electric mixer was dead so beat the sugar/butter by hand and it was nothing close to the ethereal fluffiness called for, but it worked. I’m thinking next time to add a couple grates of nutmeg. What do you think?

My Portland, OR kitchen is not hot so I didn’t chill my ancient beat-up bundt, but I did spray it with kitchen spray AND buttered the heck out of it, and the cake did not stick. And now I’m going to toast a slice (or two) for breakfast. Hey, half whole wheat!

Made this yesterday for the 4th like many people I’m sure. Everyone raved about it. I forgot to put the 2tbsp flour on the berries before adding them to the batter, but it didn’t seem to make much of a difference at all. The cake still came out wonderfully. Thanks for sharing this with us!

Do you think this would work as a layer cake? I don’t know if you will answer this in time but I want something moist that I will put blueberries in and then layer with pastrycream and blueberries and frost with a buttercream frosting that is a hybrid between an american butter cream and a european buttercream.

Thank you for such a gorgeous recipe. I made this with my 3 yo daughter yesterday. As you may know, baking with small girls has certain rules, one of which is that the icing has to be pink. Naturally, we have now had to name it the Pink Lemonade cake.

I made this for my potluck contribution at work on the Fourth of July. I make a lot of different coffee cakes and bring them in for my colleagues to enjoy. Without exception, they absolutely flipped over this cake, still talking about it two days later. This is an absolute winner! I used a heavy Bundt pan, greased it with butter using wax paper, then floured it well. I let it cool about 45 minutes, followed the edges with the rubber edge of a small spatula, and inverted it onto a serving plate with no problem.

Made this today with a mix of rhubarb & strawberries (nice winter fruit here in Australia). Was absolutely amazing! Didn’t have any issues with sticky batter but I was using a non stick bundt pan, so might have made a difference. This is definitely going to be on my regular baking list.

Just enjoyed this on our hot, lazy Saturday afternoon BBQ. It was awesome–moist, sweet and tart and not overly lemony. I used FIVE cups of fruit (3 cups rhubarb, 2 cups tiny, juicy Oregon strawberries) and it was great. The rhubarb kind of melts into the batter and was not overwhelming. Thanks for writing such clear and easy directions!

How well do you think this would freeze without the glaze of course? I’d like to make this now, freeze it and then bring it camping to eat with coffee in the morning…wasn’t sure if anyone had any suggestions…

Used buttermilk from the local dairy, picked blueberries from our yard, and used the rind from my calemondin orange bush to make this. Baked it in a silicon bundt mold that I sprayed with PAM. Followed the directions bit part of it did stick. It came out undercooked even after the tester came out clean. Anyone else use silicon pans? I used a Miele speed oven. I may be a lone dissenting voice but I found it to be a bit too sweet and overwhelmingly buttery. Will try again with rhubarb and reduce the sugar and butter.

GLUTEN FREE VERSION! I made this yesterday using my favorite gluten-free flour blend, from Gluten Free Baking Classics, by Annalise Roberts. (Blend= 2 parts extra-fine-ground brown rice flour, to 2/3 part potato starch, to 1/3 part tapioca starch.) You can substitute this blend cup for cup. I also added 1 tsp xanthan gum. It was absolutely delicious, and my friend who’s tasted many of my gluten-free baked items said if she didn’t see my celiac husband eating the cake she’d think I was putting her on that it was gluten-free. I used a new non-stick bundt and followed the manufacturer’s recommendation to grease and flour it before filling it; cake slid out easily, after the 30-minute cooling period. 55 minutes of cooking was perfect. I will take the suggestion from an earlier post to try it with less butter, because it was pretty rich. It now joins your strawberry summer cake from last year as a summer necessity in our house. Looking forward to your October book launch!

Deb, This recipe was just fantastic! I used the trick of spraying the bundt pan with Pam with flour, then putting the pan in the refrigerator while making the batter. The cake came out looking perfect! And it came out tasting perfect! What a great summertime, fruity, moist, delicious invention. Thank you for this.

Deb, thank you so much!
First, for the awesome recipe, which drew raves and requests for sharing. (I did use the full 4 C of berries and, thankfully, found sweet, ripe fruits at the little supermarket in my not-known-for-the-quality-of-its-produce mountain village. At all. Such a heartbreak, but that’s another story.)
Second: For the best tip ever on making non-stick cakes in my NOT non-stick Bundt pan. I used Baker’s Joy and floured it then popped it in the freezer while I made the batter.
That baby just plopped right out of its pan with nary a whimper after a 30 min rest. AMAZING!
P.S. Because of our elevation (7,000′) and that the cake had the additional cup of fruit, I used the 12 C pan and it was perfect. Only needed 54 min in my oven, but that might also be due to elevation.
So thanks again, Deb. I recommend your lovely, funny, and good-enough-to-eat blog to all my cooking chums!

I’ve loved every cake of yours that I’ve made, and this one looks fantastic! I’d like to make it this week, but I’m currently on a low-lactose diet for breastfeeding. Do you know if the sour-milk trick would work if I used a non-dairy milk like rice or soy? Thanks!

I made this last week and it’s delicious. I used frozen berries and powdered buttermilk, adding 3/4 c. water with the liquid ingredients. (I can’t seem to use up buttermilk when I buy the liquid kind- I end up throwing out a lot). The flavor of the cake is great and the texture is nice and moist.

Made this on the 4th of July, and I’m making it again to show off to my co-workers tomorrow! Last time I used raspberries and blueberries, this week it’s black & blue berries! We’ll see, I bet it’s just as (if not more) delicious! Also, I used a silicone bundt pan, and it took oh so long (1.75 hrs), my oven doesn’t run that cool, so I blamed it on the pan! Wonderful cake!

YUM! I liked how this turned out, and several people at the Fourth of July cook-out LOVED it! Mine wasn’t as pretty, I couldn’t get the frosting exactly the right thickness and then the warm humidity outside melted a lot of it off, but it was still sooo good, and the leftovers were like a glazed blueberry cake doughnut. :)

One thing that was strange, almost all my berries went to the bottom of the cake (thus the top once it’s inverted). Huh. It still tasted good but as the cook I noticed every time I looked at a slice. I might have kept out 3 instead of 2 T of the flour for tossing the berries, but surely that didn’t make that much difference in the consistency!

And I think I’ll try Jesmcb’s idea next time, cupcakes would be really great…

Saw that someone made it in cupcake form. How about 9 x 13, or did I miss that? I HATE doing bundt cakes, but want to try this recipe. Thought I might try it and then reserve adding glaze until I cut it and put on serving plates. Then could drizzle over each serving? Any thoughts?

Made this and served it this morning at a tea party, it was a rousing success. I used 1/4 cup less sugar in the cake, and might even halve it next time; the berries and glaze already make this pretty sweet. Yum!

Deb, this cake is amazing! However, part of the cake stuck to the pan. That has never happened to me before with a bundt, so i went about making one of my standby bundts, and that too stuck! So i’m thinking the nonstick coating has worn off my pan so need to get a new one. What kind is yours?

I made this over the weekend, and I have to say it was fantastic. I have a Nordicware bundt pan that is non-stick – I put lots of Pam on it and had no trouble whatsoever getting it to release. I have and am a big fan of the Rustic Fruit Desserts cookbook, and have always eyed this recipe as I love rhubarb. I think you’re right that it’s a perfect base recipe to riff on whatever is in season. I went with the standard 3 cups, as I like the cake part just as much as the berry part. Definitely a keeper!

Just another very satisfied baker! I used 4 cups of fruit in all – 2 C blueberries, 1 C raspberries and 1 cup mixed red currants and diced rhubarb. What I loved about this cake, besides the fact that it is easy and uses a lot of fruit, is that the crumb is marvelous. Very lush and not even a tiny bit dry. I had no trouble with the pan. I’ll definitely make this again.

I have made this cake 2 times. Used the nordic bundt and had no problems with sticking….but wondered was I the only one who read— “2 cups in one place(“I set out two sticks of butter”) verses(“1 cup (8 ounces or 225 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature”) in the recipe in the post? I kept wondering why my creaming the butter and sugar never became “light and impossibly fluffy” but rather sugary, crumbly. I loved the cake but just for clarification which one did you mean 2 cups or 1 cup? thanks for a great summer berry cake.

I’ve made this beauty 3 times already and it’s an absolutely perfect cake in every possible way. The only change we made was to thin out the icing a smidge but otherwise it’s perfect, perfect, perfect. The lemon is genius with the berries and the fantastic crumb — I could go on and on! If people are having problems with the cake sticking, maybe they aren’t letting the cake cool long enough? I use Wilton brush-on cake release in my bundt pans and my cakes slide right out after an appropriate amount of cooling time. Terrific cake!

This is THE BEST cake recipe- ever! I made 2 of these for both 4th of July picnics I was attending and they both went with copious accolades from everyone. 6 people took down half the cake in about 15 mins- the second half went just as fast the next day. :) I love this cake so much I want to try to adapt it for my sister’s bridal shower next weekend. I would like to turn this into a sheet cake that I put raspberry jam on top of and drizzle frosting over and cut into bars. Do I need to do anything different to the recipe to make this work?

This cake is so delicious – I’ve made it twice in the past few weeks! The first time I used the 4 cups of berries, used the baking Pam with flour and my “nothing ever sticks to it Nordicware non-stick bundt pan” and the entire top of the cake stuck to the pan! I pieced it together, covered it with the icing and it was delicious nonetheless! A few days later when I made it I went with 3 heaping cups of berries and it released perfectly. I think maybe the moistness of the 4 cup cake didn’t give it enough structure… Either way, it tasted fabulous and it’s a keeper!

I made this cake last week in the bundt and it turned out great, it stuck a bit, but not terrible that I wasn’t able to fix it. I want to make it again, as a birthday cake in a 13×9. Will this work? How would I need to change the baking time?

So…yeah. Made this three times in two weeks (one to take to a 4th of July party). Still can’t get the glaze exactly right, but am determined to make this cake until I do. ;) I’m glad for the info on the substitutions and tweaks everyone’s giving it.

Be advised: This recipe is going on you permanent record…as AMAZING. Thanks! Looking forward to the cookbook!

Hi, i just made this cake in two loaf pans. It took about 45-50 min. I used frozen blueberry and rasperry mix and added fresh strawberries.
They came out perfect! But very tart if you like that sort of thing, go for it:)
Thanks for a good website!!!

I finally made this and, of course, it’s delicious. I made it a quadruple-berry cake by adding an extra cup of sliced strawberries for a total of 4 cups of berries. It’s phenomenal but it lacks structural integrity, so I’m not sure if I’ll do this again. I made it in two loaf pans, so I can take one to a friend’s for dinner… I was planning on taking the other to work but I don’t think it’ll make it out the door! Thanks for another great recipe!

Just made this cake last night. I used some generic non-stick pan (couldn’t find my good one, so I picked one up at a local grocery) and coated it with Wilton Cake Release. I also let it cool for longer than 30 min before pulling it out of the pan (maybe 60? We had company over and I just lost track of time). No issues whatsoever with it coming right out!! You actually heard a small thud as it fell from the pan onto the plate when I inverted it.

I have been in Michigan vacationing all summer, I go to the farmers market every Wed and Sat and can’t wait to try this Triple Berry Bundt cake. Thanks for sharing the recipe. My husband and I just became empty nester’s and I started a cooking blog. I love your site and have always loved your recipe’s and pictures, you are an inspiration to me, I am a work in progress and still learning how to take pictures, Do you have any advise for me. Thanks so much, Stacey Evans

Hi Deb,
I just wanted to let you know that you were right – Currants are delicious in this cake! I used 4 cups and added a little drop of Fiori di Sicilia (a vanilla & orange flavoring from King Arthur Flour) with the vanilla. Let’s just say that this is how I will be using the currants from my yard from now on……

I just made this cake, and it was a smashing success. People loved it. I used 3 slightly over-full cups of berries, but 4 cups of berries (raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, and strawberries; the strawberries were quite small so they didn’t even need to be chopped up). The result was beautiful. I have a nonstick bunt, which I buttered and stuck it in the freezer while mixing up the batter just for extra insurance. It turned out of the pan beautifully. The lemony icing is a nice touch.

Made this a few days ago, and it was the best. OMG it was GOOD!! I shy away from glazes, so offer another suggestion: Scatter an extra handful of one of the berries over the serving (I used raspberries), and then pour a bit of unwhipped heavy cream over it. Go at with a spoon. Truthfully, this cake doesn’t actually need anything extra, and most of it’s eaten standing around the kitchen anyway, but the extras for a sit-down did put it over the top. Devonshire cream would probably put it into orbit.

So made it again this weekend, but in a new bundt pan. No sticking problems at all!!! So must have been my pan. (I did use Pam Baking this time.) This is ridiculously yummy!!! Will be making again and again, with and without glaze!

I made this on Thursday and will be making it again soon! It was delicious!

I couldn’t find any blackberries, but I had peaches at home so chopped them up and used them. I didn’t like the mushiness of the raspberries, so next time I will use just peaches and blueberries or blueberries only. I used my mother-in-law’s ancient bundt pan and regular ol’ Pam and had no problems with sticking. I was worried about the icing being toothick, so I thinned it with a little orange juice and was sorry I did, it was too thin. Next time, I will make sure the cake is COMPLETELY cool and my icing is thicker, and with any luck my cake will come out as pretty as yours! Thank you for a great recipe!

I made this last night and it was awesome! My icing was thick….so it didn’t fall as beautifully as that in the picture shown here, but it was still great. I used blueberries, strawberries, and blackberries.

Made this yesterday with blueberries, raspberries and (frozen) blackcurrants and it is amazing. Cake of the summer (if we were actually having a summer here in Scotland…). Thanks for the weights – I am much happier weighing than usuing cups!

Deb, I made this cake two times in five days. I bake all the time, and I (and all the lucky people who got pieces of this) know it is the best cake EVER. Well done, and thank you! Flag this for Cookbook 2.0 please!

This recipe didn’t work out for me at all.
Berries sank to the bottom (though the batter was really thick), top of cake wasn’t done even after 90 minutes (+30 in turned off oven) which meant that top/berries stuck to (buttered and floured non-stick) pan while the bottom half came out nice and clean.
Even worse – I don’t care for the taste at all (unbaked dough was lovely though! I know. I licked out the bowl). Extremely buttery/fatty, no hint of lemon, no hint of vanilla.

Either this was a problem of weighing the ingredients, too many/wrong berries (1 cup raspberries, 1 cup blueberries, 1 cup red currants + some extra), wrong “bundt” pan (ours are higher while yours appear to be wider) or due to European butter/eggs/flour/whatever rather than US products.

I guess I will stick to my favorite “Blueberry Lemon Bundt Cake”. Which I should have done today as unfortunately the mess in my kitchen means: no cake for my boss’ 65th birtday tomorrow as it’s now nearly 10 pm (due to extra time cake was left in oven) and I can’t start over again.

I made this cake for July 4th and it was insanely delicious! I followed the recipe to the letter and it came out beautifully. I do agree with adding another cup of berries to make it berry-bomb-tastic and will do so when I make it again this Friday.

And get this—two separate party guests walked into the house, saw the cake, and asked, “Is that from smittenkitchen?” You are awfully popular around these parts.

I just flipped mine (after fastidiously buttering and flouring and freezing) and it came out perfectly!
If the batter is any indication this cake will be absolutely delicious. I’m taking it to the cabin to share with friends. Thanks Deb!

I made this bundt for a summer bbq and it was damazing. I did have a few cosmetic problems, though. My berries all sunk, although coated in flour, aeven though the batter did seem incredibly thick. That’s not really the issue though, it was the glaze. I was thrilled with the glaze when I poured it on, since it looked so white and thick. But by the time we got to the party 2 hours later, it had an unappetizing “curdled” appearance. Also, berry juice somehow leaked out of the cake and broke through the glaze, running down the outside of the glaze the drips. I have never seen this happen before. Any ideas how to prevent it in the future? Because it was DEElicious and I definitely will make it again!!

I made for a party and it was a huge hit! I had no problems with the cake sticking when I unmolded it. I found the cooking time took significantly longer which could partly be my oven, but my advice is to not only be sure a knife comes out clean, but also make sure cake is pulling away from sides of pan before removing from the oven. I used very few berries, mostly kiwi, plums and nectarines. The flavor was fabulous but the fruit was pretty much non-existent in the finished cake they disintegrated into a moist fruity cake, so the presentation was not as dramatic as the pics above. A winner no matter what. Will definitely make again and again.

I wanted to report back for anyone curious about using a different size pan for this. Just made it again using two 6 inch round pans this time. (giving one away and keeping one for myself :P ) It came out perfectly with no changes at all. Same oven temp, same baking time. The cute size makes for a nice presentation!

I made this cake for a family get together today and it tasted and looked beautiful. Everyone had praise for this cake! :) It’s got a fantastic texture and flavour, with the delicious citrus icing to top it all off. And the bursts of fruit are so nice (I, too, used about 4 cups). Frozen berries worked great. It took about 20 mins longer for mine to bake but that may be related to our difference in oven temperatures. This cake is going to be one of my favourites to make for a long time to come!

So this cake recipe finally pushed me to buy a bunt pan (I’d been putting it off for over a year. I really wanted one since a treasured family recipe uses one.) I used probably just over 4 cups of berries since my blackberries were huge! It took my cake 70 minutes in the oven, but it came out of the pan without much fuss. My husband didn’t like sitting around the 30 minutes to cool. It just smelled so good! He was going to take the cake to work with him tomorrow, but I have a feeling leave it at home and hoarde it all for himself!

I was leery of trying this cake after my trouble with half the Guinness bundt cake sticking to the pan. But it looked so delicious (and I had so many berries) I had to try it. I had been wondering if my and others’ problem is that you had a modern bundt, not an old one you picked up at a yard sale 20 years ago. Thanks for confirming that! I used a ton of butter greasing the pan and then a lot of flour in the pan and then I froze it for a while as you suggested. The weight of flour listed for the cake is also more than I would have used for 2 1/2 cups (I actually checked this on my scale). Since I was worried about sticking and taking very long to cook (a little gun-shy I guess) I went up to 320g of flour. I used three cups of berries. The cake is delicious!! My husband who is more of a pie guy been likes it. My son is loathe to eat it because he wanted a lemon layer cake. There is always next weekend!

Just wanted to add my 2 cents … my buttermilk went bad before I got to use it, so I threw in a 6 oz container of nonfat vanilla greek yogurt instead – and it came out great! really moist and creamy. everyone loved it!

YUM!! I made this yesterday and it. was. DELICIOUS! I did up the berry count a bit, to the 4 cups, but it seemed like there were just TOO many. They all sank to the bottom and some of the cake stuck in the bottom of the bundt pan because it was so berry-ridden! So, so good nonetheless.

This cake sounds like a keeper; I will save the recipe to make at a later date. I may have a solution for those whose cake is breaking while un-molding. If there is a concentration of berries/fruit horizontally, this may be why breakage occurs. The berries have to be dispersed so that the cake part makes the more solid structure. Berries can fall apart, but the cake shouldn’t. If there are small pockets of berries, as long as they dispersed so the cake maintains the uniform structure, it should hold together. This may be hard to control. If you coat the berries with a little flour this will help.

Lovely! I’m a huge fan of the Lemon Yogurt Anything Cake already on your blog, but this is a great one to add to my go-to breakfast bread repertoire. I made this into 6 mini-loaves and baked about 30 minutes (2 of them needed a couple of minutes beyond this). I was most pleasantly surprised by the texture–tender, cakey, but not at all dry! Because I was serving this as a breakfast item, I did not make the glaze; probably as a result, I was craving a touch more lemony sweetness. In the future, I might use a lemon-sugar baste like the aforementioned lemon cake calls for, add more zest, or just cave and make the glaze!

I made this yesterday and took it to share with friends. Amazing! I used 4 cups of rhubarb because I’m loaded with the stuff!! I didn’t have buttermilk and used plain yogurt – home make and from a cow in my friend’s yard. Not a crumb was left…..just amazing.

I just made this cake today with only blueberries, since that was all I had, and it turned out fabulous! I do not have a bundt pan, so I used an angel cake pan. Getting the cake out was a little tricky, but it came out perfectly with not problems what-so-ever. Thank you for such a great recipe!

I made this yesterday exactly like the original recipe except I had to use 2 lemons for the glaze and bake for 65 minutes. It was amazing and it got rave reviews. I may have had smaller lemons so the graze was still thick.

made this on Sunday and it was AMAZING. my super-cheap non-stick bundt + pam with flour for baking = beautiful cake that perfectly slid out and was cooked thru after exactly an hour. i used 4 cups of mixed berries and even after 3 days when the icing had soaked into the cake in places it was as delicious as day 1 — so impressive looking and such an easy recipe!

I made the bundt cake last night and it was great, in fact I’m eating it right now for breakfast too! After reading the reviews I used less sugar in both the cake and icing recipe and am happy I did so. However, when I make it again (and I will!) I will omit the icing, I made mine thinner and it curtled, leaving it pretty unappetizing looking. Did I do some thing wrong, any tips would be appreciated.
Thank you

I loved the cake and the berries. The only thing that bothered me was the seeds from the raspberries and blackberries. After one or two slices of eating the cake, i started to get annoyed with crunching on the seeds. Any suggestions? I think i’ll use only the blueberries next time.

I also made this with 3.5 cups of peaches and it’s amazing! No glaze, and served it with plain yogurt on top (that makes it healthy)– it’s very sweet but awesome! I wasn’t sure if my bundt pan is nonstick so I buttered the heck out of it and stuck it in the freezer while I prepped the batter and the cake flew out of the pan so easily the whole thing almost slipped onto the floor…I guess the pan is nonstick! Yum!

Hello, Deb! I am making this cake for my birthday this weekend. I was thinking about making it 2 days ahead of time. You say that it can be wrapped tight before serving for 3-4 days. Is that with or without the glaze? It seems like it would be messy to wrap it with the glaze on. Should I wait until I’m ready to serve it to glaze it?

Made this with the berries for 4th of July gathering with friends. Left off the icing as I don’t like icing and my friend’s husband doesn’t either. It was DELICIOUS to say the least. Left half of what was left with them and her husband ate the rest of it that evening. I cut my share in slices and froze, otherwise I would have eaten it all myself.

A couple of weeks later I decided to try again using peaches and a few of the blackberries I had left from the first time. Then I got the bright idea of using apples and cinnamon, sooooo, I layerd half of the batter in my angle food pan (don’t own a bundt pan) and then put peaches & bb on one side and apples/cinnamon on the other side and then added the rest of the batter on top of that. Won’t use that technique again as it came out of the pan all messed up, but the flavor again was outstanding. Again I cut in pieces and froze as I am by myself and would have eaten it all in probably two days. Just had a piece this afternoon and reminded me to leave a comment. Thought I might try with pears next. FABULOUS cake.

Oh my word, this cake was wonderful. Thank you for sharing this cake. Everyone in my family loved it. I can’t believe how moist and amazing it was! Like a delicious cobbler in cake form. With icing. Oh my.

So I’ve made this twice now. The first time, I lost the top of the cake in the bottom of the Bundt pan. I attributed this to using frozen raspberries and my tragic tendency to SLIGHTLY under-bake cakes. Nevertheless, after scooping the remnants, piecing them back into place, and strategically glazing the cake–no one was the wiser, and everyone RAVED. Second time thus far: I used fresh raspberries, buttered the HECK (and I mean something far more profane, but I read the Comment Guidelines) out of the pan, and used the freezer trick. I am pleased to report that nary a SCRAP was left in the bottom of my Bundt. Hooray!

hi deb! fellow brooklyner here. i just made this last night and it’s AMAZING!!! i even put a pic on photobucket so you can see it. the glaze is a bit thicker than yours, i even added a little water but it’s still thicker. but that’s ok. i also did the 4th cup of berries, couldn’t resist all the goodies at the borough hall farmers market. thanks for the recipe!

Since I love this cake so much and summer is coming to an end, I was going to make two of these for retirement and birthday presents. When I was at the store, I saw these peaches. I decided to substitute diced peaches for the berries and use orange zest instead of lemon. YUM!

The Bundt is very light in texture and delicious. It took a lot longer than 55-60 minutes, almost 1 hour and 20 minutes. It did crack when I lifted it off the cooling rack, but perhaps I had too many berries in it creating a crater. Not tasted it yet, but I am sure it will be delicious!

This cake was great. I used the rhubarb like you suggested because berries weren’t in season and it was delicious. I used it as a birthday cake for my sister, and her friend who doesn’t really like baking and really doesn’t like rhubarb though it was great :)

I just spent a lot of time making this cake for a labor day party. Unfortunately after waiting about 40 minutes I inverted my (very well greased, non-stick) pan and half of my cake remained in the bottom :( Soooo disappointed. This is not a recipe issue, obviously- but baker’s error. Anyhoo- I snuck a fork-full of the warm cake remains inside the pan. Delicious.

I can’t bear to just toss the whole thing, so I will end up making a trifle of some kind out of what’s left of the cake, I suppose. Perhaps vanilla pudding and whipped cream layered with the cake bits. Sigh…

Absolutely fabulous! I used four cups of berries (at least) and had no problem with them sinking. The cake came out of the buttered and floured bundt pan perfectly. I thought the glaze was a bit tart, but decided to go with your recipe anyway. It was the perfect foil for the sweet cake! My cake looked just like the picture…which made me happier than reasonable I think. Today I’m making it with diced peaches; hope it is just as wonderful.

I made this cake last week for a Labor Day barbecue – it was sublime. I used a nonstick Bundt and Pammed it, about 4 C. of frozen berrie, and baked for 60 minutes. It was perfect, and was devoured in minutes. My four-year old has requested I do it again for a party we’re going to tomorrow, but wants orange zest and juice instead of lemon. Thanks for sharing this great, great recipe.

I made this cake a couple of days ago and it has been a hit! I altered the recipe slightly to make it suit my tastes. I decreased the butter to 1/2 cup, decreased the sugar to 1 1/2 cup and added 1 cup of buttermilk instead of the recommended 3/4 cup. It turned out perfectly! Not too sweet or dense. Highly recommended for those who want a “healthier” version. Thanks Deb for the recipe!

I’ve saved this recipe and just made it to coincide with the UK blackberry season. I sent the kids out to pick berries at the weekend and as they didn’t pick anything like enough for jam or a crumble I made this cake. I am so glad I did, it’s utterly delicious, a real diet breaker (unfortunately!)
Thank you for another cracker!

Deb, I made your triple berry bundt cake many times, and I finally posted photos on my site. Just wanted to let you know how useful and practical your recipes are! Thank you! If you’re curious – my website is under my name. I wanted to post a picture on your Facebook page, but couldn’t.

I borrowed my Mom’s old non stick bundt pan and I followed your directions exactly. I buttered the heck out of it, floured it lightly and put it in the freezer for 30 min or so while I made the cake. The cake came out beautifully. The icing wonderfully white. Thank you, I love your blog and the pictures are amazing!

Made this today with slightly thawed frozen berries (and upping to four cups worked just fine). I was a little concerned it might be too heavy for my picky-eating family, so I separated the eggs, mixed in the yolks, beat the egg whites, and folded them into the batter before putting the berries in. Result: an impossibly light, fluffy berry bomb of a cake with a crisp top and bottom.

Also, served it with orange-flavored homemade whipped cream, and it complemented the taste beautifully. Definitely adding this one to the repertoire!

Hi Deb,
Just for the record, I made this cake for a neighborhood 4th of July party. I must confess that the cake never made it out the door. We ate almost all of it at home and I stored one large slice in the freezer for my daughter who was studying in Dublin. She had it yesterday ….and now wants MORE. Thank you so much. I’ll make a deal with her: I will make another and she buys your book as a Christmas present for me. Cool, huh?

Hi Sarah — That one is closer to a thin vanilla cake layer in proportions recipe (though made far more exciting by all the raspberries) and this one I’d say is richer and more moist. But since their sizes and shapes are so different, it’s hard to otherwise compare them (i.e. how this would taste as a thin 9-inch round versus how that one would taste in a bundt).

This cake was just lovely! I made it yesterday using a frozen berry mix that included whole strawberries. I didn’t bother slicing and, with the batter being so thick, the berries didn’t really get coated/enveloped in the batter and I had to kind of smoosh the batter into the pan, knowing there was at least one stawberry possibly uncovered at the very bottom. Being short on time, I just rolled with it. Fresh from my experience with a Nordic butterfly mini bundt, i had Bakers Joy on hand for my big bundt and used it liberally. I also subbed orange zest since I had used the last of my lemon for dinner. The raw cake ended up sitting on the counter for close to an hour while my lamb and sides finished cooking and went into an initial oven temp of closer to 450 than 350. It still took a full 60 minutes to bake, rising beautifully and oh so fragrant in the kitchen. I let it rest while we ate and turned it out without any sticking. Short on time and knowing my dinner crowd, i skipped the glaze and dusted with powdered sugar before serving. I did have a pothole on the top from that strawberry, but no one seemed to care.

This cake was dreamy and delicious! Despite all the craziness of last minute baking decisions and sitting for a while! Next time I would slice the strawberries in hopes of avoiding future potholes but otherwise this is going into permanant rotation for summer cakes.

Also, some reviewers mentioned using powdered buttermilk as a sub. Most powdered buttermilks are NOT acidic (Bobs Red Mill for example) and would have to be treated as regular milk by adding either vinegar or lemon juice to curdle slightly.

Just made this and it was delish, as all SmitKitch recipes are. Here are my tips/comments:

– I used a old-school bundt (not a non-stick) and followed Deb’s suggestion of liberal buttering, flouring, and freezing. Waited 30 minutes for the cake to cool, flipped onto plate. No problems whatsoever. Folks! You’ve got to follow directions closely when it comes to a cake this tender, large, and full of fruit. It’s begging to fall apart– don’t cut corners
– After reading comments that this cake was too sweet/rich, I ended up using about 1T of the 2 sticks of butter to butter my pan, reduced the sugar by 2T, added 1/4 tsp salt– the result was a not overly-sweet, balanced flavor that was still buttery
– I used 4c berries, and heck! I think you could get away with 5
– I skipped the glaze b/c I thought my cake would be happier smothered in whipped cream…and it was

I am making this again 4th July I would like to make it a couple of days ahead. Should I freeze it or just wrap it really well, I will be making it in a straight sided tub pan not a bundt if that matters.

Hi Deb, just a little hint regarding the cake sticking to the bundt cake form – As an Austrian I have baked many, many Gugelhupfs, and of course we always use a bundt form.
The trick is to butter the form very carefully but not too much and then, instead of using flour, we use stale breadcrumbs! It works – always!

Thank you for yet another really big hit-you are giving me a reputation, girl!! I made this Friday night for Sunday morning coffee hour. No stickage problems with a liberally buttered & floured nonstick pan. I wasn’t taking any chances since I was serving church ladies who have been baking for centuries. I also tossed my frozen berries in a little extra flour- no sinkage either! It was just fine, wrapped tightly at room temp as you recommended, then dusted (er, encrusted) with powdered sugar instead of icing. By the time I served it the sugar had absorbed some of the lucious berry scented moisture and became it’s own sort of glaze. I gilded the lily with homemade creme fraiche and a scattering of fresh berries, and thanks to you I am now and forever a marked woman in the eyes of the church ladies! You rock.

Made this last week and it was amazing! I used frozen mixed berries, rinsed and thawed them before mixing in, and it was delicious. The only problem for me was that the glaze was too thick, but it turned out fine to have a light drizzle since the frosting is so rich! Definitely recommend.

I made this for my 4th of July celebration. I made it with fresh cherries and blueberries, as I was afraid strawberries might not hold up too well. I used my mother’s ancient bundt pan, greased very well with crisco and then floured, cooled the cake for 30 minutes as directed, and it came out of the pan like a dream! Beautiful cake….but tastes even better than it looks! I just happened across your blog when I googled “summer bundt cake” but I’ll be back for more. :)

Just made this delicious cake! I used a combination of fresh berries – blackberries, blueberries, strawberries and raspberries. The cake released perfectly from my Nordicware pan. I highly, HIGHLY recommend it – as does my husband and my father-in-law! Thank you so much for the amazing recipe!

I’m new to your site and recipes. Although I have enjoyed some your creations (Pata Negra’s Sangria) at my son’s and daughter-in-law’s. It was my wonderful dauter-in-law who pointed me in your direction. I was searching for a dessert to take to a picnic and have ventured with this Triple Berry Cake. I am anxiously waiting dessert time later this afternoon. Thank you.

I made this with fresh blueberries only, reduced the sugar to 300 grams, and used a springform pan cause that’s all I had. I followed the tip to butter and flour well and freeze. I had no difficulties getting the cake out.

Deb!!!! The flavour!!!! I ate three slices in a row. It was that fantastic. Will be making this again. I wonder if smaller blueberries wouldn’t sink to the bottom/top. Not that it matters because, did I mention how good this cake was?????

Love your cookbook. My friend gave it to me as a gift, and we email each other the page number with a “gotta make this one now!”.

A trick I learned many years ago for the sticky bundt pan is to spray or grease as usual and sprinkle finely ground pecans to the bottom of the pan. When baked, there is little trace of the pecans. The oil in the nuts causes the release of the cake.

I just made this beauty and it released easily from my old bundt pan (I greased it very well and let the cake cool for 35 mins). I am worried about storing it though. I have at least 48 hours before I need to bring it to a party and its very humid in NYC. Can I cover the cake and leave it out? Or should I refrigerate? I have not yet glazed it…

This cake was delicious! I made it just with raspberries. However, it started to get brown around the edges too early so I had to lower the temp to 325 after about 30 min. Next time I’ll try baking the entire time at 325. Thanks!

I haven’t tried any of them as a birthday cake. But I’m leaning towards this, the triple berry, because the others are extra insanely moist/soft (lemon yogurt) and/or buttery (boy bait) and that might give you trouble in layer form.

i made this last nite and it is absolutely delicious! every bit as good as it looks! the lemon frosting is literally ‘the frosting on the cake’. i did have a problem with the cake sticking to the pan – maybe if it rested for more than half an hour before un-molding it? but it didn’t affect the taste ^_^. my co-workers were tracking me down wanting to know to thank me for the break room snack and to know where to find the recipe!

Deb, I wrote comment 451.
DELICIOUS! I spread buttercream icing and raspberries between both layers of this cake. A little more icing and a few flowers on top of the cake. So scrumptious and so many compliments – I directed a few your way! Thanks again for another hit!

This is finally in my oven right now!!! I’ve been waiting over a year to make this and I moved to the Pacific Northwest this summer where berries are in abundance. We went picking way too many times this summer and I have bagfuls in my freezer. :) I can’t wait to try the cake tonight! Thanks for all the amazing recipes Deb!

This recipe turned out great, even with some tweaks. I substituted 1/3 of the flour with whole wheat flour. I used coconut milk with lemon juice in place of the buttermilk (out of consideration for a guest who can’t digest milk). And I used frozen berries. Oh, and not having a bundt pan, I used two loaf pans. The result may not be exactly what Deb intended, but it is delicious and will make all of my guests happy, whether they eat dairy or not. Thanks for another forgiving winner of a recipe! … OH and one tip: sprinkling sugar on top just before baking results in a delicately crispy crust; perfect if you’re baking in loaf pans as I did.

Hi Deb. We LOVE this cake in our house. I was thinking about making it for my husband’s birthday. Do you think this could work as a layer cake? What would you recommend for filling/frosting? I would hate to lose that lemon glaze, but I’m not sure how to include it. Thanks — You are awesome!

I was thinking about doing a 3 layer with blueberry compote filling and covering the outside and top of the cake with lemon buttercream frosting. Do you think it would be overkill to add the lemon glaze on top of each cake layer, beneath the blueberry compote?

Deb, thank you. This cake was simply divine. Used strawberries, blueberries, raspberries. The cake is rather unassuming, but the flavor will blow you away. The cake was so moist and did have that “pudding-like” quality. Can’t wait to make this again, especially in the fall with cranberries and orange zest. Further confirms why whenever someone asks me for a recipe for _____, I turn them to your site every time. With almost 50 of your recipes under my belt, I keep coming back for more. Thanks again!

Just made, and ate (at least a piece or two) this. Amazing! I do not have an electric mixer so I’m always a bit nervous when making one of your recipes that call for the use of one. Some have come out ok, some not. This I mixed vigorously with my 1965 hand mixer and it came out wonderfully! (Though my shoulder and bicep are slightly worse for wear). Fluffy and dense, moist but not soggy.
I under-berried! I put in two 1/2 cups and it looked so full, I stopped. You are 1000% right 3 c and even 4 c would be lovely.
I also mixed up the frosting. I had extra cream cheese in the fridge so I made a cream cheese lemon curd frosting that made up for the lack of berries in the cake itself. Divine!

Greetings, Deb. I am back here at your site to make this Buttermilk/Fruit Bundt cake for our neighborhood 4th of July party. Last year, the cake never made it out the door because my family (and me) absolutely loved it. Followed your instructions to the letter except I also don’t have an electric mixer but it came out fantastic. Here’s hoping you and your family have a great 4th.

I am very late to the party on this one but just made this cake on the weekend. So moist and delicious! It took willpower not to eat half the cake at once. I used 1/2 cup butter only, upped the buttermilk to 1 cup and used your 3 cup combo of raspberries, blueberries and blackberries. I buttered and floured my bundt pan and stuck it in the fridge while I prepped the batter. Waited the 30 minutes to invert the bundt and the cake just popped out :) On the menu for the rest of the week – your almond date breakfast bars and sesame miso sugar snap salad (from the SK cookbook) and your whole wheat raspberry ricotta scones. Hope you, Jacob and Alex are enjoying the summer.

I’m another person “late to the party” but this was so wonderful I had to write and say thank you! I made it on a hot and humid night and was afraid that the humidity would affect the creaming of the butter, but I managed to get it impossibly fluffy and it came out absolutely perfect! I used raspberries from my own garden (and blueberries from the store, no blackberries) but it was moist and delicious and a huge hit! I can’t wait to make it again. I used a funnel pan so it was not as pretty as it would have been with a bunt pan – but this will be my “go-to” recipe when I need to impress :) I am looking forward to trying out your other recipes.

Oh wow! What a moist cake!! i used a combination of blueberries and plums. I was hoping to use red flesh plums, but they were part of that recall (I almost wept handing them back at Trader Joe’s). So very sad. Still, a great cake. If I find more of those plums, I may try to do it again with just plums. I think cherries might work too.

This is my go to summer fruit cake! I have made it with various berries, strawberry rhubarb, and right now baking one with peaches, apricots and flavored with ginger and cardamom. Always turns out delicious and moist. Never have a problem with sticking when I use my non-stick tube pan and a coat of Pam for baking. I usually don’t bother with the glaze- it can certainly stand on its own!

I made this cake on Saturday. Thank you so much for the detailed directions…I followed them to the letter. This cake released beautifully out of my Nordicware non-stick bundt pan that was also coated with butter & dusted with flour, just as a precaution. I must say, this is one of my favorite bundt cakes so far. The berries combined with the lemon give it the wonderful flavor of summer. I sprinkled the fresh glaze with toasted sliced almonds for a little crunch…perfect. This is definitely a keeper! Thanks again :)

I made this as a 9″ layer cake for my son’s 2nd birthday, since he loves berries, with the following changes:

I increased the proportions by a third, and swapped out some of the all-purpose flour for cake flour.
For the buttermilk, I made my own very lemony version by adding the juice of a whole lemon first to a 1-cup measuring cup, and then filling the rest with whole milk.
For the between-layer filling, I made a lemon-marscapone buttercream (using lemon curd).
For the icing on top, I made a regular vanilla buttercream (using Deb’s recipe from the chocolate sheet cake), and then I made my own marshmallow fondant for decoration.

Wow! Made this with sweet Georgia peaches, fresh strawberries and blue berries and I was a little sceptical that it would be too sweet considering how sweet the end of Summer fruit was, but it came out perfect! I also got nervous that the glaze was too tart so I added a drop of vanilla and it cut it just enough. Can’t wait to bring this in to work tomorrow!

elisa — I’m always still reading (just a little slow this time because I was on vacation last week). :) You can skip the glaze. I think it will still be delicious. However, I really adore this cake more on day 2, so definitely make it ahead if you can.

Made this last night for visiting guests. Holy cow was it good! We don’t like things too sweet, so I did 1.5 cups of sugar and no glaze, just a dusting of powdered sugar on top, which was perfect. I also used frozen mixed berries (blueberries, raspberries, blackberries). The cake was so moist and flavorful! Will most definitely make again. Next time I may only use blueberries as my only complaint is that the blackberry seeds were a bit bothersome. Thanks for the recipe!

I have made this cake numerous times and it has always rocked! With mixed berries, just blueberries, whatever. I have not had an issue with the cake sticking in the bundt pan either. Deb, thank you for your awesome recipes!!!

Because I heavily consulted the comments before making this cake, I thought I’d share my experience in the event it is helpful to someone else. I made this cake in two loaf pans, in part because I don’t have a bundt pan and also because I wanted to taste it before serving it to others. I used slightly more than three cups of fruit: blueberries, blackberries and raspberries. Next time I’d skip the blackberries because I wasn’t a huge fan of their texture after baking. I froze one loaf and took it out of the freezer about 48 hours before serving. It was perfectly moist after thawing, even without the glaze. I mixed up the glaze maybe 6 hours before serving and had to re-stir it before glazing the cake because the glaze looked separated or curdled. I glazed the cake about an hour before serving and stuck it in the fridge until serving to avoid further separation. The cake was moist and delicious. The lemon and berry combination made it the perfect summertime dessert. The one thing I’d try differently next time is to beat the butter and sugar longer – I’m not sure whether I achieved impossible fluffiness, although it was tough to compare the finished product to the photos here because I used different pans. This is a great recipe to make ahead, whether you need to freeze it or just have it last a few days without drying out. Thanks for the recipe!

This cake has been infamous since I made it last summer… it’s currently in the oven now, and the only change I made was that suggestion to bump up the berries a bit. Some of the raspberries squished, and made it streaked with a pretty pink.

Made this today for the first time and it ROCKED. One of the best cakes I have made. Everyone loved it. No issues with sticking and the glaze was great–I almost didn’t make it but I’m so glad I did. This will for sure be my go-to summer dessert.

Made this on July 4th- de-lish-us! I minused 1/2 cup sugar as I thought there was an excessive amount- I also chose a whipped topping instead of the sugary glaze☕️ Had it for dessert and then made French toast with it the next day – children and adults thoroughly enjoyed both – I just used blueberries and raspberries- this recipe will be a good standby now for me – Thanks!!!

Wow! This has been my Go To summer dessert since i noticed it on your site this July — so moist and delicious! I have been throwing in 3-4 cups of whatever fruit I find at the farmer’s market. Everyone loves the combo of lemon, fruit and moist cake. It really captures the freshness of summer and is rich without feeling decedent. Trying white & red raspberries today. We’ve been finishing it off for breakfast… oops! Thank you!
Ps. Putting the buttered & floured bundt pan in the freezer while making the batter really helps! It’s been combing out PERFECTLY!

I took the advice to grease my bundt pan well to heart and whipped out a tub of margarine (I used butter in the cake) since I thought it would be easier to handle. Coated it twice over thoroughly, gave it a couple shakes through with AP flour, tapped out the excess & stuck it in the freezer while I made the batter. Worked like a charm and I had no problem getting the cake out of the pan. I don’t think I waited more than 10 minutes after it came out of the oven too (bed time was fast approaching). Oh, and it ended up needing 65 min in my oven. Hope this helps others!

Made this for Fourth of July weekend and it looks fantastic. I love how detailed your recipe notes are – I felt the same way after the first test when I thought it would never fully bake, but by the second test it was ready and I said out loud “Deb, you’re always right!” Thanks so much!

What a lovely summer cake! I impulsively bought a ton of red currants (they’re so pretty), and I used some in this recipe. I did about 2 cups of the currants plus about a cup and a half of cherries and blackberries. Next time I use a tart fruit, I want to try orange zest & juice to try and keep the flavors more balanced, but otherwise this is a recipe I plan to revisit in the future. Thanks, Deb!

I just wanted to let you know that I have made this Triple Berry Bundt Cake at least 6 times, and I am making it again today. It is the most delicious bundt cake I have ever baked. I usually bake it up on a Friday nite, and my husband and I spend the rest of the weekend enjoying with a cup of coffee or tea. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe and story. I so enjoy your site and reading the stories with your recipes. Please continue sharing with us.

I made your mom’s apple cake for an employee party! It was wonderful, but I may have overcooked it just a bit:), to counteract a crust that was a bit dry, I drizzled with caramel and kept my whipped cream on the soft side..It was “oh so well received”, I may make it again for Valentine’s day..3 apple varieties is the way to go! Thanks!

I made this a second time but the glaze looked too thin, I could see bits of butter, and it smelled almost like vomit. I never noticed that before. I tried whisking it longer, but lost patience and began to panic. So I tried a third time after softening the room temp butter even more in the microwave. That worked. I scraped off the previous two glazes off as best as I could before putting on the third glaze. I am hoping this won’t affect the taste. I keep freaking out that I curdled it and it’s poison now. I didn’t know what else to do.

Hi Deb! This looks fantastic. I hope to make this in the near future. Wondering if you’ve baked this off-season using fresh-frozen berries or other fruit? I would guess that letting them defrost to most-thawed would work pretty well. Thanks!

Have made this four times now. The first and fourth times were a huge success – no sticking to the pan. The 2nd and 3rd were a mess. I discovered that the best way to have the cake come out of the bundt pan in one piece was to cool it completely before attempting to turn it out. That meant a few hours, but was worth it. The frosting is fantastic, but it’s best to wait until the day of serving to add the icing, otherwise it gets a bit perforated looking. Absolutely delicious cake!

I have made this cake 4 times now and it’s always a winner. It’s become my husbands favorite cake. In fact, he’s requested it as his birthday cake 2 years in a row! Be sure to coat your bunt very well. Sometimes I even garnish the top of the glaze with poppy seeds and it adds a nice texture!

I made this tonight and it was very good but it didn’t blow my socks off. My frosting came out a little too thick and I felt it was unnecessary because the cake was delicious on its own. I feel like the cake was identical to the Twinkie cake I have made from your site before. So in conclusion, it was a very good but I would rather just make the Twinkie cake and put berries on it.

I love, love, love this cake. I have made it a dozen or so times and I always get rave reviews on it! I love adding peaches and cherries along with whatever berries I can find. It’s rhubarb season now so I may try it with that! Thanks Deb!!!

This is a delicious cake and was a big hit with my friends! The recipe is streamlined and comes together pretty quickly. (Always appreciate that about your recipes, Deb!) I made it as written with the exception of the glaze, which was way too thick to be spreadable for me, so I ended up adding a couple of tablespoons of milk to thin it out. It did separate a bit once on the cake, but it still tasted delicious. Next time I would cut the glaze recipe in half, as I didn’t think it needed so much. And I actually think the cake would be equally delicious without the glaze and with maybe just a dusting of powdered sugar. Or whipped cream. Or ice cream… This is a keeper for me!

Deb, do you think this will freeze well? I know bundt cakes freeze well, but get nervous about freezing anything with berries in it due to the moisture. I have leftover berries and buttermilk, so this would be the perfect recipe!

I made this today for my granddaughter’s first birthday. It was a delightfully delicious cake. The citrus glaze was a perfect topping but my daughter added cream cheese and I have to say it was pretty amazing. One weird thing, somehow I overlooked the baking powder. I didn’t have self rising flour and it still baked into a wonderfully moist but slightly dense crumb. Honestly, I hate the weird metallic aftertaste of baking powder in baked goods, so it was a happy mistake.

Okay! Wow! I just made this again for a potluck and I made the lemon glaze per the recipe. You don’t call yourself smitten kitchen for nothing! Girl! That glaze makes this cake so so SO good. I used the baking powder this time and still no metallic taste.

I also use the NordicWare bundt pan, buttered it to death, and ended up with half the cake stuck to the pan after 30 minutes of cooling time. Extremely disappointing!! Still delicious but couldn’t bring it to the function that I baked it for. Thank god for Whole Foods?!

I’m sorry you had trouble. Have you ever put it in the dishwasher? In one of these comment sections where many of us were sounding off on bundt-sticking, a representative piped up and said that they’re not supposed to go in the dishwasher or it compromises the finish. I… had no idea and am now wondering if this has been part of my problem. That said, this cake released just fine for me. I’m sorry you had trouble.

I’ve made this before, and I’ve always turned out beautiful results. I absolutely love this cake. Today I’m making it with sour cherries, raspberries, and blueberries as my red-white-blue 4th of July cake for tomorrow. Very excited to present this to our cookout! :)

Phew! I’ve made this twice now, both times with a mix of blueberries and strawberries. The first time I made it without the glaze and last night I also made the glaze. I have to say, I have a major sweet tooth but I found the glaze too sweet. The berry cake is fine without it. (Not to worry though–I’m sure the “too sweet” version will get eaten, no problem.)

I love this cake so much! It is one of my go to’s that always makes everyone ooh and ahh. My favourite combo is peach, cherry, blueberry, sooo yummy! I’m making it again this week after I go blueberry picking, can’t wait!

Made this with red and black raspberries for a birthday this afternoon and it’s a “stuck in the pan” horror show. Tastes nice, even without the glaze. I used plenty of cooking spray, but now see that letting it cool completely might have saved me from what I’m doing now – unpacking from the grocery run and starting over. 😕

This is the best cake I’ve ever made. I’ve made this three times, with much success. The only hard part was finessing the glaze, and of course, estimating the bake time (but your time is actually fairly exact).

Haha! Here I am in vacation in Maine caught up with your recipe. 🤔 One more question. I’m having a pretty large gathering in a couple of weeks, hence the question on servings. Also can this be made ahead, wrapped and frozen. I just love this recipe even though it’s sort of outside the box in terms of the party. We’re doing an On Island Time kind of thing, but ….. whatever works. 🌴☺️

Also had mine stick and get mangled. I buttered and floured thoroughly, then put it in the freezer while making the batter. I have made four bundt cakes ever and two of them have been aesthetic disasters. Maybe I’m not supposed to make bundt cakes.

The tester came out clean after 70 minutes but it came out pale on the bottom and the inside was dense in areas. If I baked it longer would it brown and sort of fluff up without over-baking? I used Saskatoon berries so the flavor was wonderful but I feel like it has too much butter. I’m biased though: I enjoy the slightly more bread-like texture of Polish babka. Oh, I also cut the sugar down to 3/4 cup and it was still sweet enough. Thank you for sharing this recipe.

I’ve been dreaming of this cake since I first made it in 2015! I finally made it again yesterday. A bit of berry goop stuck to the pan, but I pressed it onto the cake and it held together after it cooled, even if it looked a bit Frankenstein’d.

I used 550+ grams of mixed berries (strawberries, blueberries and blackberries), which means this cake is basically health food, right?! I’m skipping the glaze since it’s plenty sweet with the fresh berries.

FYI, just made these as muffins – I was wondering how many I would get and didn’t find the answer in the comments so am posting my results in case anyone wants to know! I doubled the recipe (with 450g of fruit) and got 48 smallish size muffins (just over the rim of large size baking cups). I used 1.5x the glaze recipe and dolloped it on top of each and swirled it around somewhat. They came out a bit denser than the bundt cake version, but still delicious and super-moist! The icing swirl on top was pretty.
If you want to make twelve spill-over-the-top large muffins I think one recipe would do it. One of my family’s favourite bundt cakes in muffin form!

I’ve made this cake three times now as I slowly bake my way through the Smitten Kitchen site. This is one of the easiest cakes I’ve ever made and people who I didn’t expect to like fruity sweets have begged for me to make it again. It’s low maintenance, moist, and delightfully lemony.

Just tried it while warm and it was great! I used 3 cups of frozen wild blueberries tossed in the flour. They distributed well throughout the cake. Important – if using frozen berries work quickly to fold the frozen berries into the cake and put it into the oven right away to reduce the blue tint that comes when they start to melt.

If using rhubarb instead of berries, would the prep be to mix the rhubarb in a bit of sugar and lemon prior to adding it, or does rhubarb also need to be coated in flour? I think I know the flour is to keep the berries from sinking, but I have no idea if a sliced fruit also needs that kind of coating… Help!

You could to help get better flavor out of them, but I think it will work without pre-macerating them too. Re, flour coating: I don’t, in my more recent years of cooking, believe any longer that this does anything to prevent berries from sinking. It’s the structure of the cake that determines sinkage (a thicker batter won’t lead to sunken fruits). However, if a cake is written with this flour-coating in mind, I keep it, as I do here, as the flour is intended to be part of the final cake. (Hope that makes sense; I haven’t had coffee yet.)

I just made these and am in love! Only had blueberries, and added about 1/2c coconut to batter as well. My bundt went mysteriously missing, so I did muffins (~36) that I baked for 25 mins. Came out incredibly tender and delicious!

One of the best cakes I have ever made. So delicious. Used frozen berries so they would stay intact while mixing batter. Increased baking time maybe to 70-75 min? Next time I may refridgerate before I put on glaze, i didn’t cool Cake enough and it ran off. But so so good & everyone loved it.

Made this with all blueberries and the zest of 2 lemons. I like the tangy flavor of the extra lemon and blueberries were on sale that week. My quilting group LOVED it. It will go on my list of favorites to bake for get togethers and cake sales.

There is a print icon that leads to a print template at the bottom of each recipe, where it says “DO MORE:” You can also click CTRL + P from any recipe post and it will take you to a streamlined print template.

Made this for a gathering yesterday and it was a huge hit. I used 3 cups of blueberries and some raspberries because that’s what I had and baked it in two loaf pans. Fantastic summer dessert and also delicious with morning tea!

I have an abundance of Palisade peaches so naturally, I had to bake them into this cake. Four cups of peaches easily made the cake sweet enough after cutting the sugar in half. I also subbed in a third whole wheat flour, orange zest, grated ginger and my buttermilk was made from heavy cream and vinegar. This was so moist and delicious. Didn’t even miss the glaze, which makes me feel good about eating it alongside my morning coffee!

This cake was the only thing tempting enough to turn on the oven on a 90 degree day in LA:) Thank you for how amazing my home smells-I can’t wait to bring it to my party tonight! I maybe should’ve asked this question prior to jumping into baking but I already had my lemon zest, butter and sugar whirring away in my Kitchenaid, my eggs were room temp (if 85 degrees is room temp) and I have to be at a party in 2 hours. So-I hope I did this right because I am a little confused about the flour measurements in the recipe. In the ingredient list, it calls for 2 1/2 cups “plus” 2 tablespoons AP flour. Then in the instructions, it says to whisk or sift 2 1/2 cups flour (leaving 2 tablespoons back). I understand the 2 tablespoons in question are to toss with the berries so they don’t sink to the bottom (or top) of the cake, but is there supposed to be the full 2 1/2 cups of flour in the cake or 2 1/2 cups minus 2 tablespoons? Thanks so much!

I made this last night (after a hard day at work…needed some baking therapy). It turned out fabulous! I buttered the bundt pan well and it didn’t stick at all. I did the toothpick test right at 53 minutes and it was perfect, any longer and it would have been dry. I garnished with the remaining berries. It really is beautiful and getting rave reviews from my co-workers.

Another winner. Also an excuse to bust out my new Nordic ware non-stick bundt pan (perfect release with lots of non-stick spray). I was concerned that the tartness of the lemon juice in the glaze would be too much – silly me. This is a great cake. (Also quite fond of the phrase “impossibly fluffy”!)

It is a bleak January afternoon with freezing rain. A happy coincidence with the recipe and frozen berries while searching for anything remotely summery. Added some toasted almonds after glazing to promote a sense of healthy. Meanwhile, back to vicarious vacations through online travel guides and a slice served with HOT tea. Cheers, Smitten as you made my day.

I love this cake! I use frozen berries and make it regularly for potlucks. It holds up well when baked the day before eaten. It is absolutely delicious! I use plain yogurt with a bit of milk when I don’t have buttermilk (which is often). I do use shortening on my bundt (after being scared about people having it stick) and have never had it stick.